Naruto: The Uchiha Chronicles
by RinneTaicho
Summary: The course of history changed when Madara Uchiha met a woman who pulled him from "The Curse of Hatred" once more. But the threat of the Eye of the Moon Plan isn't over. A new and mysterious figure lurks in the shadows. Now his grandson will set out on a journey to bring honor back to their clan and family. Sharingan/Magnet Style Naruto, Naruto x Fem-Sasuke x ?
1. Chapter 1

**Naruto: The Uchiha Chronicles**

 **AN/ Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii'm Baaaaaack! Hey yo, so RinneTaicho here. Man, it's been forever. To make a long story short, a bad case of writers block and a couple years of hectic school schedules have made it hard to get back to my stories. But now I'm back. I'm going to try to work on all my old stories, and there are also a couple new ones I have in the works. First off, I want to say I'll be changing up my updating style. I'm going to be releasing a chapter a week for stories I have a backlog of chapters on, which will allow me to work on other stories while releasing those chapters, and then work on another story as I'm releasing those chapters for other stories.**

 **So here's the first chapter of my re-write for the original. First off, let me explain why I'm re-writing it in the first place. About a day after I posted the last chapter of the original, I received a review, from someone who pointed out a few flaws I had been already considering and wasn't really happy with, such as the whole Naruto-pretends-he's and idiot thing. So I'm re-writing it, I'll obviously take that part out, and also he'll be closer to Sasuki this time around, as in they'll be friends. There really are a lot of differences between this version and the first, so for anyone that is reading this that read the first version, please read the re-written chapters, because if you don't, you might end up confused later on because certain scenes are different.**

 **Not much else to say, except, let's get on with the chapter!**

Normal speech: "what"

Extremely loud group/single person shouting: "WHAT!"

Thoughts/Speech taken out of context: _'what'_

Letter/Book/Written text: ' _What'_

Demon/Summon speech: **"what"**

Demon/Summon thoughts: **_'what'_**

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or Bleach, that honor belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and Tite Kubo respectively.

 **Arc I: The Origin:**

 **Chapter 1: A Loss of Innocence, The Copy Wheel Begins to Turn!**

 **— ₪** **NTUC ₪ —**

A young blond haired boy named Naruto Uzumaki raced through the forest. His electric blue eyes were stretched wide in terror. The leaves and twigs of the brush got stuck in his spiky hair, and left small scratches on his arms and legs where his black tee-shirt and tan shorts left the skin exposed. The blood roared in his ears as his heart pounded wildly in his chest. His breath came in short, panting gasps. But the six and a half year-old ignored all that. He had to get away.

A branch snapping in the forest behind him caused him to look over his shoulder in terror as he searched for his pursuers. With the heightened awareness from the adrenaline flooding his veins he thought he could just pick out a white porcelain mask among the green foliage.

The blond haired boy began to run even faster. His small muscles burned terribly, but he tried to ignore it, and forced his stiff limbs to move even faster. He had to get away. Get away from these monsters pursuing him.

Up ahead he began to hear the roar of rushing water. Feverishly, he remembered that the Naka river ran near these training grounds. Maybe he could use it to escape! The current would surely sweep him downstream in no time at all, and he would be able to escape the men chasing him. With a small ember of hope growing in his chest, Naruto rushed blindly out of the brush. He immediately came to a skidding stop on the rocky shore at the edge of the river.

A lump formed in his throat. In front of him the great Naka river tumbled over the side of a cliff to crash upon a set of rocks nearly a hundred feet below with a deafening roar.

How had he gotten himself into this mess? If only he hadn't picked today to practice for when he entered the ninja academy, he wouldn't have seen those masked men attacking that Leaf shinobi, and he wouldn't be running for his life now.

"This is bad. I have to get away. Those men are gonna catch me." Naruto turned to race into the brush once more, but as soon as he saw what was waiting for him, his heart dropped. While he had been lamenting his bad luck, his pursuers had caught up to him. Standing behind him were three men. They were clad in black, with strange white masks that looked like twisted versions of the ones he had seen Anbu wearing.

The one in the lead stepped forward. From behind his four-eyed dog mask came a muffled voice. "There is no escape. Give up now, and your death will be quick."

Naruto shuddered at the emotionless monotone. By that voice alone, he could tell these men were like the ninja his gramps had told him horror stories about. Emotionless killing machines.

Tears began to prick his eyes, and he searched around him for an escape, any escape. To his right there was only a long stretch of rocky riverside. That wasn't an option, these men would catch him before he got even ten feet. His left wasn't an option either, that was the cliff. In front of him were the masked men, and behind him was the river. That was just as bad as the cliff, the current would sweep him over the edge, and his body would be broken on the rocks at the bottom. The man was right. There was no escape. He couldn't get away.

The tears began to fall down his face in hot trails. He didn't want to die. There was no option though. Try as he might, he couldn't think of a way out of this mess.

"It seems you're more intelligent than the reports suggested," The leader said. Naruto didn't even register the insult, or the man giving orders to his comrades to capture him alive. He didn't even raise an eyebrow at the mention of an 'extraction', whatever that meant.

As the the men began to advance on him with strange tip-less tanto's drawn, Naruto could only squeeze his eyes shut in fright. By now his adrenaline was coursing through his veins so hard, his arms had gone tingly and numb. All sound seemed to fade away into the background, and he could only hear the rapid beats of his heart.

 _Bum bum . . ._

His mind began to wander to all he hadn't done. And to his regrets. He still hadn't gained the recognition of the villagers. He regretted that.

 _Bum bum . . ._

And what of those he cared about? The Hokage and the Ichiraku's, how would they feel? Causing them pain, another regret.

 _Bum bum . . ._

But his biggest regret of all? Not finding out who his parents were. Had his whole life been for nothing? All those days in the orphanage, wondering about who his parents were, and if they loved him. The long hours training, and the loneliness and pain. Loneliness so great it was like a constant void, a hole in his heart that he just couldn't seem to fill. No matter how many times he hung out with the Hokage, or ate at Ichiraku's and laughed alongside the cheerful father-daughter duo, it could never wash away his feeling of solitude. Sure he put on a brave face, and pretended it didn't bother him. But it did. To try and escape his sorrow, he'd latched onto a dream. A dream to one day become Hokage, and maybe, just maybe, find out who he was. Was all the training he had put into that goal meaningless? Was he to simply die here, alone?

 _No._ He thought to himself. _It can't end like this. I won't let it end here. I refuse to die!_ Naruto's eyes snapped open, and time seemed to slow to a crawl. If Naruto would have been able to see his eyes, he would have seen that they had turned crimson, with a single black tomoe spinning around the pupil

As it was, his mind went all fuzzy and blank, and Naruto entered a trance-like state. It was like he was in a dream. From deep within himself, a power began to well up. It built and built, until finally it had become too much, it felt like the power would tear his body apart. Somehow, he just _knew_ what to do with that power. Naruto instinctually raised his hand. He pointed it at his enemies, and let the power loose in a wave that swept over the men.

The results were as sudden as they were brutal. One second, the man with the four-eyed dog mask and his companions were charging at him, about to cut him down. The next, the sound of ripping cloth filled the air. Every single weapon on the men tore out from within their weapons pouches. Kunai and shuriken, senbon and makibishi spikes, all began to pour out and hover in mid air. Even the tip-less tanto's the men wielded were jerked from their hands and hung stationary. For a single moment, all was quiet and still.

"What is this?" Asked the dog-masked man in surprise.

And then hell broke loose. The weapons shattered like glass. Slivers of black and silver metal whirled about the three Anbu imposters, like gleaming razors whipping about in a tornado. They began to tear into the men, leaving thousands of razor thin cuts upon their skin.

It was over in a matter of seconds. All that was left of them were a few scraps of cloth, and three shredded lumps of blood, flesh, and bone, resembling hamburger meat more than human corpses.

Coming out of his trance, Naruto stared at the remains of his pursuers in shocked horror. The smell of iron in the air was so strong that it made him nauseous. He almost lost his lunch at the grisly sight before him.

"Th-they're dead. I did that?" He whispered in shock. With the threat gone, his adrenaline began to fall. The energy that had saved his life just moments prior began to fade. A wave of exhaustion hit him. Between the running, and that strange energy, he felt completely drained, and his tiredness began to catch up to him. His eyes drooped. All of a sudden, he felt himself teeter precariously, and then–to his horror–he began to fall forward; right into the river. He tried desperately to make his body move, but it was impossible.

 _N-no I really am going to die_ , he thought helplessly. The last thing Naruto was aware of before blackness swallowed his vision, was the ice cold shock as he hit the water.

 **— ₪** **NTUC ₪ —**

Naruto could feel something hard underneath him, and he also had the oddest sensation of coolness lapping at his body from below. He lay there, not quite sure what was going on. For some reason his thoughts were fuzzy, and slow. _Drip drip._

His face scrunched in annoyance. What was that noise? It almost sounded like water. Water? Strange. For some reason that sounded familiar. Hadn't he been doing something to do with water. The blond sluggishly tried to piece it together Something about water, and falling. A waterfall.

The waterfall! Naruto's eyes snapped open and he sat up quickly.

He was lying in a network of concrete tunnels, with an intersection not too far ahead, and lit with an odd golden light. Pipes ran along the ceiling and parts of the walls. Water dripped slowly from one of the pipes and formed a layer of water on the floor.

 _The last thing I remember is falling in the river. So how'd I get here?_ Naruto slowly stood up and looked around. For some reason his vision seemed sharper than before, but he pushed it to the back of his mind. Instead he focused on what he was hearing. Every sound he made seemed to echo off the walls, and the sound of lapping water filled his ears. _I can find out how I got here later, right now I need to find a way out and get to Gramps._ The intersection up ahead seemed just as good a place to start looking for an exit as any.

Naruto took a cautious step forward, but stopped immediately. A deep growl echoed around him, and with it came a voice, and an ominous feeling.

 **"Come . . ."** It whispered. The voice was deep, and ancient, and it made his body tremble in fear. Yet, he felt himself drawn towards it.

Without even realizing it, Naruto began to walk towards the tunnel ahead of him on the left. In the back of his mind, he was terrified. He knew he should run. Every logical bone in his body told him to turn around and get away as fast as possible. To run away and never look back. But something was drawing him. He had to know what that voice was.

As he turned the corner, Naruto saw a light at the end of the hallway. He began to walk towards it, until he walked right through it.

The brightness of it forced him to squint. When he came out the other side there were spots in his eyes, and he had to blink rapidly to try and clear them. When they finely did, his eyes widened at the sight before him.

He stood in a large room. The walls and ceiling stretched far, and made him feel tiny. But the most impressive thing was the cage. Directly across from him, a gigantic set of doors were set into the wall. Bars stretched from the floor almost to the top of the ceiling. On either side of the cage there were intricate swirl patterns carved into the metal, and in the center of the two doors was a slip of paper as large as his body, with the word _seal_ written on it in kanji.

"Wh-what is this place?" Naruto whispered in awe. He began to walk further into the room, trying to peer into the vast darkness inside the cage. Deep breaths seemed to be coming from within that darkness. "Is someone in there?"

Suddenly, Naruto felt a wave of malice and hatred crash down upon him. He couldn't talk, he couldn't even will himself to stay standing, yet his body refused to fall. He was just frozen in place. The terror he felt was ten times worse than what he had felt when he was about to be killed by the three masked men earlier. The blond felt himself breaking out in a cold sweat. The pressure increased to the point he couldn't even draw breath.

Naruto struggled to stay conscious. Black spots began to invade his vision. Then, finally, mercifully, the pressure lifted from him. A deep rumbling chuckle filled the room.

Naruto collapsed forward onto his hands and knees, panting with his eyes still wide in shock and fear. Suddenly, that same voice from before boomed out to him.

 **"Hehehehe. So . . . my** ** _warden_** **has finally come before me."**

A visibly shaken Naruto got to his feet slowly. He looked directly into the darkness. Right now he stood just a short distance away from the cage. All he wanted to do was turn and flee in terror. The boy shook his head. He attempted to reign in his fear, managing to shift his facial features from being terrified with wide eyes, to simply one of wariness.

"Wh-who are you?" He asked cautiously.

In response, he received another deep chuckle, before something terrifying happened. In the dark abyss inside the cage, two enormous crimson eyes with slit pupils shot open, with a huge gleaming white grin soon following. The large pointed teeth were as big as Naruto himself.

Naruto took a step back in fear at the bloodthirsty grin, and the almost manic glaring eyes. It was just as well that he did. For not a moment later did a huge reddish-orange paw resembling a human hand shoot forward towards him. Gleaming white claws looked to impale him. For some reason, he saw it coming as if in slow motion. Naruto threw himself backwards desperately, and landed on his rear in the pool of water on the floor. Still, the claws continued to come towards him, and were just about to impale him, when—

 _CLANG!_

With a resounding crash, the paw was stopped as it crashed against the bars of the cage. One of the deadly claws stopped just inches away from Naruto's face. If the blond hadn't thrown himself backwards, he would have been impaled on it.

Looking up at the owner of the paw with eyes wide in shock, Naruto gulped in fear as he saw a vision of terror.

The shadows in the cage crawled backwards to reveal a beast of nightmares. Standing there looking at him with a menacing grin and one paw attempting to impale him was a giant reddish-orange fox with a human-like torso and rabbit like ears, with black marks extending from its eyes into the inside of its ears. Behind it waved nine giant tails that seemed to have a mind of their own.

He was standing in front of the Nine-Tailed Fox. The greatest calamity to ever befall the Leaf Village. And it was glaring at him fiercely.

 **"Look at you, little whelp. Standing before me with those eyes. To think you would be from** ** _that_** **clan."** It growled.

For his part, Naruto was frozen in shock and fear, it felt like someone had poured ice water into his veins. It took several moments, for him to register what the fox said, and even longer formulate a reply.

"Y-you're the Nine-Tails! Where are we, and, um, what do you mean I'm from a clan?" Naruto asked, shaky at first, but stronger and more confused at the end.

In response, the Nine-Tails removed its claw from the cage door. It laid down and growled at the boy.

 **"Don't play dumb with me,** ** _boy_** **. You are undoubtedly a member of those accursed Uchiha . . . with that repugnant Sharingan!"** The Fox spat.

The blond was frozen in shock. He tried to process the Nine-Tails' words, but they were just too absurd. Still in denial, he looked down into the pool of water at his feet, only to see his reflection staring back at him. His irises glowed a bloody crimson, a single black tomoe circled each pupil.

"The Sharingan, but how?" Naruto whispered to himself in complete shock and awe.

His eyes were wide in astonishment, and he could feel his body shaking. Such was the shock of seeing the famous dojutsu of the Uchiha Clan in his eyes. Naruto had seen Uchiha clan members around the village, he'd even seen the Sharingan before. His Gramps had told him all about the clan, and their legendary dojutsu. Naruto had often found himself in awe of its capabilities. The ability to copy jutsu; how awesome was that? But he had never expected to see it in his own eyes.

"H-how's this possible? I'm no Uchiha!" Naruto asked himself in shock, something the Nine-Tails heard.

The beast let loose a snort of derision, the noise echoing off the walls.

 **"Obviously you are, little boy. There's no doubt that is the Sharingan."** The Nine-Tails growled, causing Naruto to look up at it once more. The fox snarled in fury when Naruto met its eyes. **"Turn those infernal things off, before I find a way to rip them from your skull and make jam from them to spread on crackers."** It snarled in annoyance, it's tails whipping about in agitation. Naruto gulped in fear.

"H-how do I do that?" Naruto asked nervously. He didn't want to upset the beast.

Lucky for him, the fox simply gave an annoyed growl, before answering.

 **"You certainly don't act like most of your clan. To turn those stupid things off, you need to stop the chakra flowing in your eyes, Whelp."** It replied in a huff.

Still slightly confused, Naruto struggled to control his chakra, willing the chakra in his eyes to halt. He found it difficult. Although he had managed to get his gramps to show him how to use chakra–mostly through an absurd amount of begging and pestering–, he still wasn't too good at control. It was with much relief, that he looked down into the water, to see his normal blue eyes looking back at him.

Shakily, he looked back up at the Nine-Tails, still having questions for the ancient entity. Like where the heck they were, and what the beast was doing there. For a few minutes, everything was silent, until he finally worked up the nerve to speak to the being once more. He chose his words carefully so as not to upset it.

"I don't wanna be disrespectful, but I have some questions. Where are we? And what did you mean when you called me your warden? More importantly, how're you here, all the stories say the Fourth killed you!" Naruto asked cautiously.

As soon as the last sentence left his mouth, Naruto knew he touched a nerve. Instantly the fox once more tried to impale him, slamming its hand-like paw into the bars again. It snarled in fury, trying in vain to get to the blond.

 **"KILL ME? THE GREAT NINE-TAILS KILLED BY A LOWLY HUMAN?"** The Nine-Tails roared in fury, causing him to cower slightly from the sheer might of its rage.

Even though the Fourth was his hero, he daren't try to talk back to the chakra being. After a moment, the fox seemed to regain its composure, but with the malicious snarl still in place. When next it spoke, it was much calmer, with a touch of arrogance.

 **"Please, that whelp barely managed to seal me away with the help of that pathetic woman. The mere notion of him being able kill me is laughable."** The fox told him.

As opposed to the previous statements, this one drew curiosity from the blond. What'd it mean a woman? All the stories he heard said the Fourth beat the Nine-Tails alone. He was also confused by its mention of a sealing. Naruto didn't know much about sealing—only what his Gramps had told him—, but if the Nine-Tails was sealed in something, there was no way he should be able to be face-to-face with it.

"If you're sealed away, how can I be talking to you, how'd I get in a seal?" He asked. To his surprise, the chakra entity seemed to find this amusing. Its dark chuckles filled the boiler room, as it replied with a malicious smirk.

 **"Foolish little boy. I called you my warden, are you too stupid to realize what those two things mean?"** The fox taunted. **"The reason you are my warden, and the reason you can be here—the very reason you are shunned by the people of your village—is because your beloved Fourth sealed me inside of you!"** Said Nine-Tails with a twisted grin. It seemed that the fox took a bit of glee in Naruto's pain.

Naruto's eyes widened in shock, as the booming echoes of the Nine-Tails' hate-filled mirth reverberated through the room and through his body. A sick feeling settled into his stomach as the words sunk in. It made horrifying sense. The reason everyone ignored him or glared at him. Why when he would describe people that were particularly mean to him to his grandfather figure, they would disappear. All because he had the Nine-Tails sealed in him the day he was born; by his hero no less. He finally knew the answer to one of the questions he always had about himself.

It took him several minutes to recover his faculties. He struggled to come to terms with all the life altering occurrence's he had recently experienced. He'd found out he had the Sharingan, made his first kill, and learned he was the jailer to a massive chakra monster, all in one day. For any average kid anyone of them would be exhausting, let alone all three. Luckily for him–or unluckily depending how you looked at it–he wasn't normal.

As Naruto gazed at the reflection of himself in the water; he became curious. Once more he allowed chakra into his eyes.

It was fascinating to see the normally electric blue eyes bleed into crimson red, the black tomoe spinning slowly. Before he could get too into looking at his new eyes, he found himself interrupted by a deep growl from the occupant of the cage.

 **"Why are you playing with those boy, I told you to keep them off."** It growled in annoyance.

Instead of being cowed as he was earlier, he decided to keep them on, something that seemed to annoy the fox as Naruto decided to look at it with them.

"I have them now, so I might as well get used to them. Gramps says there's nothing more foolish than wielding a weapon you don't know how to use!" Naruto replied stubbornly. Though he was beginning to get curious as to why the fox seemed to loath the eyes.

"Why do you hate the Sharingan so much?" Naruto asked in a respectful tone, trying to not upset the entity. It was locked in a cage, but Naruto didn't want to press his luck and make the Nine-Tails angry.

At first it seemed like the fox would refuse to answer. The silence stretched for near a minute. Finally, it was broken with a resigned huff from the monster.

 **"Those filthy monkey eyes have been used to control me twice by members of your damned clan."** It answered.

This was something Naruto found interesting. He was going to question it further, but it seemed the fox was now feeling talkative, and he continued without the need of prodding.

 **"It makes my blood boil seeing you looking at me with them. They remind me of** ** _that_** **man."** The fox growled, it narrowed its eyes, focusing harder onto him. **"In fact . . . if you had black hair, you would be the spitting image of him if he was a boy . . . "** It said with a menacing snarl.

Naruto didn't know what to make of that. He reminded the Nine-Tails of one of the men that had controlled it? But who could that be?

"Who d–" He began, halting as he began feeling a strange sensation. It felt like he was being pulled, pulled from his spot, yet not in any direction. His form began fading. Naruto looked down at his rapidly disappearing hands in worry. "What's happening?" He asked in a panicked tone.

Seeing the panic, the fox snorted in amusement, resting its head in its palm in a bored fashion.

 **"Oh settle down foolish boy. Your body is simply awakening from its forced nap, after you butchered those three men. I must say, it was a most impressive display for one so small. Perhaps you might yet prove to be a worthy container,"** The fox chuckled, seeming to find amusement in the way the three men had died.

Naruto froze as he was reminded of his recent kills, slowly fading from the seal with a shocked look.

 **— ₪** **NTUC ₪ —**

When he passed out, waking up in the seal was a slow and groggy process for Naruto. Exiting the seal was much easier. One second Naruto was talking with the Nine-Tails, and the next he was lying on a soft bed, staring up at a wooden ceiling. _Where am I? This isn't the hospital._

Naruto sat up slowly, and began to look around the room. It looked like he was in a traditional style home, with rice paper sliding doors and wooden walls. The room seemed to be lit by a chandelier hanging from the ceiling, with several candles in it.

"Ahem." Naruto jumped at the cough, and his eyes leapt to the foot of his bed. There, sitting in a wooden chair, was an old man wearing a simple black robe. His frame was worn and emaciated, and he had thin white hair that framed his face and covered his right eye. And he was staring right at Naruto.

"You had quite the experience young man. If I hadn't have been taking my morning walk when I did, I wouldn't have seen you falling from the top of the waterfall. I was able to save you at the last second. Had I been a few minutes later, you would undoubtedly be dead." he said. A glint of emotion that Naruto couldn't place flashed through his eyes as he spoke.

Naruto swallowed audibly at the idea that he had come so close to death without even knowing it. "Thanks, I guess."

The old man chuckled in amusement. "Think nothing of it, I'm just glad you're alright, Naruto." he said. His words, though friendly, set Naruto on edge.

 _I never told him my name._ Naruto began to stare at the man wearily. He was just now beginning to realize that he had no idea where he was, or who this stranger was for that matter.

"How'd you know what my name was?"

The old man fixed Naruto with a piercing stare. Unconciously, Naruto channeled chakra to his eyes, and his sharingan activated. He couldn't withhold a gasp at what he saw. The old man was practically swimming in chakra. His reserves were massive!

"You should be careful who you show those eyes to, it might make some people suspicious," the old man said, ignoring Naruto's question. But Naruto wouldn't be deterred.

"I asked you a question! How'd you know my name? Are you working for the guys that chased me?" Naruto asked harshly. The old man snorted, and glared at the wall behind Naruto.

"Please, don't try to lump me in with those mongrels. If your powers hadn't activated and killed them, I would have eviscerated those fools myself. Believe me, I wouldn't ever try to hurt you, Naruto." The old man's voice was thick with emotion, and the emotion in his eyes from before was back in full force.

Naruto's mind froze when he saw that look. He couldn't recognize it before, but now he did. It was the same emotion he saw in his gramps' eyes when he looked at him. Warmth, caring. Love. Why was this person he never met looking at him like this?

"Who the heck are you?" he asked quietly. The old man gave him a soft smile in response. Suddenly, his black eyes bled red, and three tomoe began to spin around his pupils.

"My _name_ is Madara Uchiha," he answered. "As for who I am—" Madara paused and closed his eyes, as if willing himself to continue. Finally, he took a deep breath and looked directly into Naruto's eyes.

"I am your grandfather."

 **— ₪** **NTUC ₪ —**

 **AN/ So there's the re-write of chapter 1 done. No doubt, more than a few people will be mad I'm re-writing this, and that it's taken me so long to get it out.**

 **But to explain, after the last chapter came out, I got a review that pointed out a lot of things in the plot that had already been on my mind, even as I was writing them. An example would be Naruto's hiding his strength. Even while I was writing it, I could tell it's not quite where I wanted to go, and it just didn't feel right. So I decided to re-write it.**

 **As for why it's been so long, I've been dealing with a bunch of issues, not only with tough school, but health problems.**

 **Anyways, the next chapters should follow rather soon. My intention as of writing this AN is to get at least four chapters re-written before I release this first one. I'm also going to be shortening this first arc to three chapters.**

 **So, til next time,**

 **RinneTaicho, Signing off!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Naruto: The Uchiha Chronicles**

 **AN/ Ok, here's the second chapter of the re-write. Hopefully it will be done quick, and then we can get on to the cannon stuff after chapter 3.**

 **So the response to this remake seems pretty good. Now, to address reviews. Most questions I've answered through PM. One thing that I noticed was confusion on updating. I thought I'd made it clear what my plan was, but apparently I didn't, so my bad. My plan is to update every Sunday. I'll have one story updating at a time, and I'll be updating from a backlog of chapters, that way I have more time to write new chapters. Another thing I saw was some confusion on the pairing, so I'll clarify that. As of now, it is a double pairing, and I've already decided the second girl with Naruto. Whether that might go to a small harem of three, or fall to a single pairing, I can't say for sure, but right now I'm pretty firm on my plan.**

 **Another bit of news is that I'm trying to get a designation for genderbent characters for my stories—ie, Fem-Sasuke, Fem-Yamato, etc—put into the character category. As of now I haven't been successful. I don't know if it's they are blowing me off, or if I'm not contacting them properly (if any of you know for certain the way to contact them, please let me know, it would be very helpful). Either way, all's I know is if they can mistakenly put a designation for Fraccion in the Naruto section, and designate Fem-Naruto as Naruko, despite here being named being a fan-made thing, and not cannon or even part of the actual series, I think they should allow authors to indicate whether a character is genderbent. It's pretty detrimental to authors like me who genderbend, because we can't exactly put the genderbent characters in the featured characters spot/pairing, without it possibly being confused as yaoi, and that keeps us from drawing the eyes of people who might be looking for pairings like Naruto/Fem-Sasuke.**

 **Whew, sorry, went on a bit of a rant there.**

 **Well, that's all for news, keep on reading and reviewing, I like to hear from you guys.**

 **Now, on with the chapter!**

Normal speech: "what"

Extremely loud group/single person shouting: "WHAT!"

Thoughts/Speech taken out of context: _'what'_

Letter/Book/Written text: ' _What'_

Demon/Summon speech: **"what"**

Demon/Summon thoughts: **_'what'_**

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or Bleach, that honor belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and Tite Kubo respectively.

 **Arc I: The Origin:**

 **Chapter 2: The New Naruto, and a New Friendship!**

 **— ₪ NTUC ₪ —**

Naruto stared at Madara in shock. It felt as if all the wind had been driven from his body, like someone took a sledgehammer to his stomach. His grandfather? Naruto's eyes fell to the blanket covering his legs. Could it really be true? Could Madara really be his grandfather? It did make sense. How else would he have the sharingan? As the shock began to fade, a strange feeling began to take its place. Bubbling and hot, it filled his chest. Resentment, anger.

Where had Madara been, if he was really his grandfather? If he was alive, why did he have to grow up alone?

"Where were you?" he whispered hoarsely. Madara noticed his anger, and tried to calm him down.

"Naruto, I know you must be upset, but please, just listen to what I have to sa—" he began. But Naruto wasn't willing to be calmed down. All of a sudden he could feel six years' worth of repressed emotions bubbling up, begging him to unleash them. And he intended to.

"Where were you all this time? All the time I've been in the orphanage. Watching as other kids got adopted, but I was passed over every time. And for what, because of some fuzz-ball? Everyone hated me, and I didn't know why, but I knew I was all alone. No family, no one to care about me, do you have any idea how much that hurt? And you were alive all this time." Naruto looked up to see Madara looking at him sadly. It just made him angrier. Suddenly, he was yelling. "DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT! WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I NEEDED YOU? DIDN'T YOU WANT ME? DID MY PARENTS NOT WANT ME TOO, IS THAT IT?" he screamed.

By the end, Naruto was crying. Tears fell down his face in thick streams and his body was wracked with sobs. It felt as if his heart was breaking, the idea that maybe the family he had been looking for all this time might not actually want him. He had never considered that. Naruto saw movement through the blurry tears, and he tried to move away when Madara reached for him, but the old man just moved forward more, and wrapped him in a hug. At first it was slightly awkward—Madara was clearly not used to showing physical affection—but eventually it began to calm Naruto down. The hug felt warm, and caring.

"Why didn't you come for me? Did I do something wrong?" he whispered. His voice was muffled by the cloth of Madara's robe, but the old man answered none the less.

"Oh Naruto, it's not that I didn't want you, or that you did anything wrong. And it certainly didn't have anything to do with the Nine-Tails being sealed inside you. Believe me, I wanted to go and take you from that place every single day. But I couldn't. If anyone had known we were related, you would have been taken from me, and I would be killed." Madara told him. Naruto pulled back from the hug, and looked at his grandfather in confusion.

"Why would they do that?"

Madara sighed, and sat on the side of the bed. He motioned for Naruto to sit next to him, and when he did, Madara began to speak.

"Long ago, I helped create this village. All that you see today, is a result of the work between my friend Hashirama and myself, and our two clans," he explained. Naruto looked at him in awe. "Back then, I was a very different person. Full of anger and hate for what I perceived the world had done to me. I had just lost my brother. At the same time, when we agreed to create this village, Hashirama promised that I would be its leader. We had always dreamed of making a village where shinobi clans could live in peace, and children didn't have to fight and die in meaningless battles, as our respective siblings had. He felt that I was best for the job, and even created the title of Hokage for when I took up that position. But that didn't happen. When it came time for the leader to be chosen, the villagers chose Hashirama. I resented him for it. That led to the most foolish decision of my life."

Naruto was enraptured as his grandfather told him his story. He sat for what felt like hours, and listened to him describe the roller coaster that was his life. Battling Hashirama at the Valley of the End, and losing. Then managing to escape, and plotting his revenge. He was a little shocked by some of the plans his grandfather told him of. Had he really intended to trap the whole world in a big illusion, just so he would no longer lose to his rival? It was when Madara began to tell him about his grandmother, Kazehana, and his eyes became misty, that Naruto began to see why he changed.

"I met her when I was in the Land of Wind, looking for the best way to take the One-Tail. She was being attacked by members of the Hidden Stone's Explosion Corps. To this day I don't know why I interfered. I had never bothered with the dealings of shinobi before, and it was an odd time to start. Nevertheless, I killed them, and saved her. Afterwards, we began to talk, and I was entranced by how kind she was." Madara told him. Naruto looked at him curiously.

"What was she like?" he asked. Madara sighed wistfully, and stared into his eyes with the sharingan. Suddenly, Naruto began to see an image projected onto the wall in front of them. It showed a beautiful woman, with shoulder-length yellow hair and eyes the same color of electric blue as his own. Around her neck was a silvery-white scarf. As his grandfather spoke, Naruto could suddenly see the image moving, and hear sound as if he was staring at a movie.

"Your grandmother was an extraordinarily kind woman. Despite disliking killing, she became a kunoichi in order to protect her younger brother. Family meant everything to her. She is the one who taught me about love. She was also incredibly selfless. When we fell in love, Kazehana decided to resign from her career, and move away so we could start a family, despite the fact she was giving up everything she ever knew, she was happy. It was her words that helped me the most. She had the unique ability to change people for the better, and she managed to guide me off of the dark path I was walking. Aside from Hashirama, she was the only person that saw something in me besides darkness, something more. Even after her death I swore to never lose myself to hatred again. I could never look her in the eyes when we meet in the afterlife if I did."

Naruto stared at the images on the wall in awe as he saw how his grandmother helped his grandfather. She was the epitome of what he always envisioned family as being. Then the image of his grandmother holding a blond-haired baby appeared, and his grandfather smiled.

"Soon after we had a son, your father. We named him Minato Uchiha." Naruto's eyebrows scrunched in confusion. For some reason, that name sounded familiar."For a time, we lived happily. No more war, just family. But of course, that eventually came to an end," Madara said darkly. "One day when he was two, Kazehana and Minato went to a carnival in Tanzaku Town. Because it was in the Land of Fire, we were concerned I might be spotted, even if I were to use a transformation. It was too risky, there were still those alive at the time who might remember me. Still, Kazehana didn't want Minato to miss his first carnival. So they went to the carnival. That morning when they left was the last time I saw them together."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Why, what happened?" he asked.

His grandfather closed his eyes in pain, and when they opened, he glared at the wall, and the scene shifted. It showed the shocking sight of a clearing littered with bodies, one of which was his grandmother. She laid in the middle, with weapons spread around her, and the bodies of rough looking men that had been hacked apart.

"When they didn't show up on time, I got worried, and tracked them down. This is what I found when I got there. On their way back, a group of bandits decided to attack them. It was made up of low ranked missing ninja. Your grandmother managed to kill almost all of them with her Magnet Style—the same thing you activated to kill those men—but one of them managed to get a lucky hit in. By the time I arrived, your grandmother was dead, and your father was nowhere in sight. I tried to revive her with my Rinnegan, but I was too weak at the time. I was only able to heal some of her wounds when I revived her. She lived just long enough to tell me that while she was a spirit, she had seen a large man arrive. Apparently he was worried about Minato dying on his own, so he took him." his grandfather told him grimly. Naruto felt tears in his eyes. So his father had grown up alone too.

"That night I started a twenty-two-year search for your father. It wasn't until a month before your birth that I tracked him down. They had only had his first name that was stitched into his clothing, so the orphanage here in the Leaf gave him a new last name. They called him Minato Namikaze." Naruto gasped in shock. He'd recognize that name anywhere. Madara smiled down at him.

"Yes, your father was the Fourth Hokage. From what I can tell, he met your mother in the academy. Her name was Kushina Uzumaki, and like you she too had the Nine-Tails sealed inside her. She grew up to become a woman known as much for her beauty as she was for her fiery temper. I planned to approach them on the night of your birth, to reveal myself. But that didn't go as planned.

"A masked man claiming to be me attacked, and unleashed the Nine-Tails. Your father managed to drive him off, but by that time the fox was already laying waste to the village. With little time, and your mother too weak to have it sealed in her again, he had no choice. He had to make the decision to seal it into you." His grandfather paused, and gripped the cloth of his robe tightly. "I had no choice but to watch as he and your mother gave their lives to save you from the fox's claw, and Minato gave his soul to seal the fox with the Reaper Death Seal. Afterwards, Sarutobi arrived, and I had to leave, and bide my time. If I had tried to take you then, Sarutobi would have captured me, and I would be unable to help you later on." Madara explained.

Naruto sat there for a while, trying to absorb it all. He wasn't sure how to feel. Today he had felt so many emotions, and learned so many shocking things. He wasn't quite sure what to think. But one thing was for sure, he wasn't mad at his grandfather now.

"I guess I understand why you didn't take me that day. It still sort of hurts, but at least I know now." he told him. Madara smiled gratefully, and looked as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"I'm glad. You know, I was actually planning to reveal myself to you this year, on your birthday. The events of today just accelerated that plan." said Madara.

Naruto smiled at him tentatively, and the two sat in silence for a while, simply enjoying each other's company. Finally, Naruto broke it, when he quietly asked, "So what now, now that we've met? Will we be a family now?"

Madara smirked at him, and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"Yes, we will. I'll have to make arrangements, but it shouldn't take more than a week. You'll move down here, and then," Madara gave him a grin that Naruto thought was a little too sadistic for his liking. "We'll start your training. That masked man will come again, and from what my sources say, he's amassed himself a group to help him gather the Tailed Beasts. It's my job to get you ready. So, enjoy this week, because afterwards; it's going to be training like you've never experienced before."

For the first time in his life, Naruto wasn't quite sure that he wanted more training.

 **— ₪ NTUC ₪ —**

In the hidden grotto underneath the Naka River, Naruto—now seven—stood in front of his grandfather—who was using an old kama as a make-shift cane. Behind him, the caves small waterfall cascaded lightly into the crystal clear pool, which seemed to glow with an inner light due to the small shaft of sunlight that shone down from a small crack in the ceiling. The ground had been evened out, all the stalagmites being removed in favor of a smooth floor, to create a small area perfect for training.

Naruto had grown slightly in the time since he met his grandfather, being slightly above average in height for his age. His hair had begun to darken slightly, with black strands here and there; and it had lost some of its spikiness, and become shaggier in appearance. He wore a simple attire, with an Uchiha-style high-collar shirt and a pair of tan shorts.

The past six months had been amazing for Naruto. After he met his grandfather, he had begun to live inside the cave with him after setting up a secret passageway between it and his apartment building so that no one would see him going to the waterfall every day. Something Naruto had learned rather quickly was that Madara was different from most grandparents. He had a different concept of fun activities. Whereas most people would teach their grandchildren to fly a kite, or dote on them with sweats—Madara would show him how to forge his own kunai and shuriken, and teach him to play shogi. Still, Naruto loved it all the same. After all, most kids just got cheap candy; he got to learn how to make awesome weapons!

But Naruto's favorite activity was probably the training they did together. Each day he learned something new. That's why he stood in the training field they had created down here, because his grandfather had told him that they were going to begin something special today.

"So, what are we doing today Grandfather?" Asked Naruto, barely controlling the urge to bounce eagerly. Madara had never referred to anything as 'special' when telling him of a new thing to learn, so this must be really special if he would say that.

"You have been doing well in your chakra shape transformation training, so as a treat, I'm going to teach you a jutsu that is very special to our clan. It's a special rite of passage, and once you've mastered it, you'll be considered a full Uchiha," Said Madara, with smirk. That really got Naruto's attention. Ever since he had learned that he was part of the Uchiha Clan, he had learned everything he could of their history and customs, so he knew right away what his grandfather was referring to. In fact, he had been bugging Madara to teach it to him ever since he had found out about the rite of passage.

Instantly a wide smile spread across Naruto's face, eyes wide with wonder Excitement began to well up inside him. "Really? You're going to teach me the Fireball Jutsu?" Asked Naruto excitedly.

"Yes, now come, I will show you how to perform it, then it is up to you to master. This is one jutsu you can't use your Sharingan to learn, it must be learned on your own." Replied Madara as he made his way over to the pond. From there he walked out onto the traditional wooden bridge that arched over the pond. The entire way, his steps were accompanied by the sound of his improvised cane tapping on stone, and then wood. Naruto followed him eagerly, and stopped right alongside him at the center of the bridge.

Madara dropped his cane. He turned to Naruto, and said, "When performing this technique, you must first knead the chakra inside your body, turning it into fire, and then perform the hand seals; and finally, release the fire through your mouth. Pay close attention."

Naruto nodded, and fixed his attention solely on his grandfather. Madara was performing the hand seals slowly, so that he could follow them. And that's what Naruto did, carefully committing each seal to memory. He repeated each one mentally. _Snake. Ram. Monkey. Boar. Horse. Tiger._

Once all half dozen seals were performed, his Grandfathers chest puffed up. He brought his right hand to his mouth, forming a circle with the first two fingers and thumb. A massive orb of roaring flames fifteen feet in diameter issued forth. The ball of fire shot out over the water, and created a circle on the surface. The liquid recoiled from the heat of the fire, as steam hissed upwards in wispy tendrils. For well over a minute, the flames continued, with a constant roar filling the cave. All the while, Naruto looked at it in wonder. The flames, it was amazing. He could feel the heat licking his skin, even from his position behind his grandfather. Slowly the flames died down, and the water returned to its previously serene state.

Madara turned to him with a smirk. "Once you can sustain it at that size and intensity for a minute, I will consider it mastered." Said Madara. He stood back to allow Naruto to step up and try the technique.

He was nervous as he stepped up to the side of the bridge. It wasn't until just then that he realized how important this was; both in regards to clan traditions and him personally. He really didn't want to screw up his first attempt at the jutsu in front of his grandfather, he didn't want to let him down.

Naruto closed his eyes. He took a deep breath as he slowly reached inside himself to his sizable chakra reserves. Carefully, he focused it into his lungs, willing the chakra to start heating up and turn into fire. Finally, he felt confident enough to begin the hand seals.

 _Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger!_ Thought Naruto as he methodically formed the hand seals. His chest puffed out, his lungs expanded as he brought his hand to cup his lips.

 ** _Fire Style: Fireball_** _**Jutsu!** _ He said mentally, determination surging forth. From Naruto's mouth issued a stream of orange flames that billowed into a fireball that was four feet in diameter. The fire lasted for a short quarter of a minute, before tapering off and disappearing.

Naruto looked at the place where his fire ball had been with a slightly disappointed expression. He had been hoping to make it at least a third of the size of his grandfathers, but it hadn't happened. That disappointment changed, when his grandfather spoke behind him.

"Hmm, very good for a first try. Keep working on it and you should have this mastered in no time. I think I'll go lie down for a bit while you work on this." Madara complimented him.

Naruto's heart lifted, and he beamed under his grandfather's praise. Although Madara was supportive, and helped whenever he was having trouble—he didn't give praise lightly, only if he really deserved it. In Naruto's mind, that always made it even better, since he knew he wasn't just trying to boost his confidence.

Madara smiled gently at him. He ruffled his hair when he passed Naruto. Naruto shouted a halfhearted, "Hey!". The old Uchiha simply chuckled, and continued on his way into the house.

He paused, just as he was about to enter the house, where he turned to call back across the cavern; "Oh, and don't forget, I need to draw some blood from you again today. Be sure to preserve _some_ energy."

Naruto huffed in annoyance. For reasons he refused to explain; his grandfather had been drawing Naruto's blood frequently. The only thing that he would say is that it was for a special project. The blond was dying to know what that was.

"Again? When are you going to tell me what all this mysterious blood drawing is about?" The only reply was a chuckle.

 **— ₪ NTUC ₪ —**

A few months after he'd learned the Fireball Jutsu, Naruto took the academy entrance test. He passed with flying colors. For the longest time, he had been excited to join the academy, where he could finally begin to make friends and work towards his goal of becoming Hokage. Now he was finally taking the first step towards his dream. There was just one problem.

The academy was boring as hell.

Because he had learned so much before hand, Naruto found himself way ahead of the material that was being taught. For the most part he spent class trying not to fall asleep.

It wasn't until the second week in the academy, that anything interesting happened.

Naruto had been walking home after another boring day of lectures, when he came across a group of older students picking on someone in a secluded area near the academy. The students—a trio of boys, one of them tall and lanky, another pretty average looking, and the last rather chunky—were gathered around someone, a girl, from the sound of it, and were throwing insults at her.

"You're that new girl, the one everyone keeps saying is really good. Ya know, we were in the same class as that supposed genius brother of yours. He was a real jerk, making all of us look bad in spars, and then graduating in a year on top of it! Maybe we should teach you a lesson so you don't get as arrogant as him!" One of the boys jeered. Immediately, Naruto's temper began to flair. He hated bullies, he had to deal with them a lot back in the orphanage.

He had just resolved to step in, when the girl snapped back an angry reply. To his surprise, he recognized her voice immediately.

"It's not my fault if you couldn't beat Itachi, and it wasn't his either! Just because he beat you doesn't mean he was a jerk!" Sasuki said to the bullies. She was a girl from his class—an Uchiha, actually—and she seemed to be doing just as good as him as far as academics went. Naruto found that she was a really nice girl, contrary to what the bullies were saying.

"Shut up you little twit!" The plain looking boy growled angrily. "Let's teach her a lesson!" His friends both nodded in agreement, and cracked their knuckles menacingly.

When he saw the tall one getting ready to dash forward and attack, he felt like cursing. No way could Sasuki handle them on her own. Naruto acted on instinct. He momentarily forgot the lessons about tactics his grandfather had been teaching him, and decided to hit first and strategize later. With a fierce cry he launched himself to intercept the boy who was charging with a foot to the face.

Tall and lanky let loose a muffled— _oof_ —and sailed backwards. Lucky for him, his friends, although stunned, managed to catch him before he hit the ground. While the chunky boy and the plain looking one helped their friend, Naruto turned to Sasuki, and asked, "Hey, you ok?"

Sasuki stared at him for a moment. She looked equal parts confused and grateful. "Y-yeah, I'm fine."

Naruto smiled at the black-haired girl. Before their conversation could go any further, they were interrupted by the annoyed voice of the boy he kicked.

"Gah, you've got a lot of nerve, you stupid blonde. Who d'you think you are?" By now he had recovered from the kick. Naruto felt more than a little satisfaction at the red mark he had left on the boys face. When the tall boy didn't get an answer from Naruto, he growled angrily and gave him a venomous glare. "Hey! I asked you a question, who do you think you are, butting into our business. We were about to teach that damn Uchiha a lesson!" The boy said angrily.

At those words, Naruto gave the older boy a glare of his own. "Teaching her a lesson? You were bullying her; you bunch of creeps!"

That seemed to set the older boys off. "Hey, watch it you punk! You're just new students, we're gonna be graduating this year! We'll wipe the floor with you two!"

Now that brought Naruto pause. For the first time he actually took note of the boys ages. Sure enough, each of the boys looked like they were around thirteen. _Not good. I can't handle three genin yet!_ He felt like cursing himself for his shortsightedness. His anger at the bullies had clouded his better judgment, and now he was in it deep. _I just know I'm going to hear about this from Grandfather. But for now, I've got bigger issues._

While Naruto had been thinking, the three boys had spread out so that they took up the only exit onto the main street, and were leering at them. Another oversight; they were stuck in a dead end. A glance at Sasuki told him that she was just as worried as him.

"What, no come back?" The tall boy taunted. He was obviously hoping to rile Naruto up more, but quite frankly, Naruto was too busy trying to find a way out of the situation. Fighting was obviously out of the question. Running wasn't really an option either; he could probably get away, but he didn't know how fast Sasuki was, and he didn't want to leave her behind. That just left talking their way out of it, but how?

"Tch, whatever. I can't believe I'm wasting my time with you two. I'm a candidate for Rookie of the Year, you know, Toshi Miyamura." The boy—Toshi—bragged. Toshi nudged the two boys next to him. "Miki, Ren, you guys ready to thrash em'?" He asked. The two nodded with huge grins on their faces.

By now, Naruto's mind was going a million miles an hour. He was trying to find anything that might get them out of this situation safely. The last thing he needed was to draw attention to himself by getting beat up alongside the youngest Uchiha heir. _Wait a second._ His eyes narrowed as he looked at the boys advancing on them, and then to Sasuki and back again. An idea began to form.

"Hey, you, the tall one, hold up a second!" His yell halted the boys in their tracks, and Toshi looked at him quizzically.

"Why should I? Are you trying to get out of your beating, cause it's not gonna work." He said.

Naruto shook his head negatively. "No, I just had a question for you. Were you telling the truth when you said you were a candidate for rookie of the year?"

Toshi grinned smugly, and nodded. "Yeah, what of it?"

Naruto licked his lips.

"Well, I was just thinking. What do you think will happen when it's found out that you attacked the youngest heir of the Uchiha, one of the most prestigious clans in the village?" Naruto asked. To his satisfaction, the three boys instantly froze. For the first time they looked uncertain. Perhaps his plan could actually work. He eagerly pressed his advantage. "She also happens to be the daughter of the head of the Konoha Military Police Force, you know, the people in charge of policing Shinobi?"

A mounting look of horrified realization began to spread across their faces. Clearly they knew where he was going, and so did Sasuki. She herself was beginning to grin. Naruto let the boys stew for a moment, and then decided to go in for the kill.

"Someone like you would have a lot to lose. Attacking Sasuki would be like pre-career suicide; you'd never become a shinobi!" He declared. By now, the three older students were sweating bullets. "So, why don't you do yourselves a favor and get out of here?"

Despite the obvious fear on their faces the three boys didn't cave immediately. For a few moments, they simply stood there and glared. Finally, Toshi turned around and led his friends away. But not without a parting shot. "You might be getting a pass cause she's here this time, but just wait punk. You'll get yours!"

Naruto and Sasuki didn't take their eyes off the boys as they left. They both relaxed when they were finally gone. With the threat out of the way, the two turned to each other with friendly smiles on their faces.

"Whew, that was a close one. It was pretty tense for a second there." Said Naruto. Sasuki nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, thanks. You helped me out big time." She replied.

Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly, and tried to play it off. "Na, it was nothing, I just don't like people who pick on people that they think are weaker than them." But Sasuki wouldn't have any of it, she shook her head vigorously, making her ponytail whip side to side.

"No, really, thanks. I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't come by. It was really brave." She said earnestly. Naruto couldn't help but blush at the girls praise. He wasn't used to people complimenting him. Especially not someone like Sasuki. Despite the rather tomboy-ish way she dressed—preferring an Uchiha-style shirt, and shorts to skirts—she was easily one of the prettiest girls in class, with her long, blue-tinted black hair and large onyx black eyes.

"I guess so," He relented.

They stood there awkwardly for a moment, neither really knew what to say. Naruto looked down at his shoes and studied them silently, while Sasuki looked at a tree off to the side. Finally, Naruto took note of the time, and realized it was time to go.

"Well, anyways, I better get going. I've got a lot of training to do. I'll see you in class tomorrow." He told her.

With a wave over his shoulder, he began to leave. Before he could get too far, he was stopped by Sasuki's voice.

"Hey, wait a second, what's your name? I recognize you from class—you always seem to do pretty good—but we haven't gotten a chance to introduce ourselves yet." She said. Naruto stopped, and turned to her with a grin.

"My name's Naruto, and I already know who you are, Sasuki Uchiha." He said cheekily. Her cheeks puffed up playfully."Well Naruto, I was wondering if we could be friends. Although I might change my mind, now that you're teasing me."

A wide smile spread across Naruto's face at Sasuki's offer. He'd joined the academy hoping to make friends, and it seemed like he just made his first.

"Yeah, I'd like to be friends too. I'll see you in class tomorrow." He didn't wait to hear her reply, though he saw her bright smile. Naruto turned on his heel, and began to make his way home. He couldn't wait to tell his grandfather! All the way home his smile didn't die, and there was only one thought on his mind. _Things are definitely looking up. I can't wait for school tomorrow._

 **— ₪ NTUC ₪ —**

 **AN/ There's chapter 2. I don't really have much to say. I guess I'll see you next week for chapter 3.**

 **So, til next time,**

 **RinneTaicho, Signing off!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Naruto: The Uchiha Chronicles**

 **AN/ Hey yo. So here we are, chapter 3. This will definitely be the last chapter of the arc. Those who read the original, you'll note a change in the way Hiruzen discovers Madara.**

 **I'm glad that the response to the story seems pretty good; I think it's even better than the response for the original. So, this chapter is a bit longer than what's become my average, but since it's the wrap-up of an arc, I figured I could make an exception.**

 **Anyways, hope you enjoy the chapter, and get ready for cannon.**

 **Now, on with the story!**

Normal speech: "what"

Extremely loud group/single person shouting: "WHAT!"

Thoughts/Speech taken out of context: _'what'_

Letter/Book/Written text: ' _What'_

Demon/Summon speech: **"what"**

Demon/Summon thoughts: **_'what'_**

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or Bleach, that honor belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and Tite Kubo respectively.

 **Arc I: The Origin:**

 **Chapter 3: Face-to-Face Meetings, and A Look to the Future!**

 **— ₪ NTUC ₪ —**

"Grandfather, I'm home!" Naruto's excited voice echoed throughout the hidden grotto in which he and his grandfather made their home.

It had been a few months since he met his friend Sasuki, and life seemed to be going great. After the incident with the bullies, they had become quick friends. For the most part his time was now balanced between school, training, and spending time with his grandfather and Sasuki. Separately, of course. Sometimes it got a little hectic, but he didn't mind

Naruto heard a shuffle inside the simple two story house. The next moment the door slid open to reveal his smiling grandfather leaning on his cane. A happy grin spread across Naruto's face as he raced to meet his grandfather, tackling the ancient Uchiha around the middle in a hug.

"Oof" Madara chuckled good naturedly. The small black and blonde haired boy felt his grandfather's arms envelope him in a warm hug.

"It's good to see you too. Tell me, why didn't you come back last night?" Asked Madara as they separated. Naruto chuckled nervously. He felt his face heat up slightly in embarrassment. The night before he had spent too much time out training with Sasuki. By the time he was done it was too late, and he was too tired to make it back to the grotto. No doubt his grandfather had been worried.

"Hehe, sorry Grandfather. I over did the physical training yesterday. I was too tired to make it through the tunnel." He explained.

Although Naruto preferred to make it to the grotto as much as possible, sometimes he had to stay back, either to protect the secret or because he was too tired. The grotto had become his true home; it was the first place he had family.

The young Uchiha pouted when his grandfather chuckled in amusement at his embarrassment, only furthering it when he ruffled his hair.

"That's fine, because today you'll need your strength. We'll be working on chakra control." Naruto groaned. Shape transformation and chakra control were hard. Because of the size of his reserves, he had trouble with those subjects.

He was about to complain when— _BONK_

"Ouch!"

Naruto winced and rubbed his head. His grandfather had wacked him on the head with his cane. When he finally stopped rubbing the smarting lump, he shot a dirty look at his grandfather, which was met with a stern glare.

"Don't give me that look, Naruto. Your reserves have been increasing once more, so you need to improve your control even further. You are an Uchiha, control and jutsu come naturally, but you must still work to attain them, especially with your Uzumaki genes." Naruto wilted under the stern lecture. He knew his grandfather was right. With a sigh, he placed his hands in a cross shaped seal and began to build his chakra.

 _POOF_

All around the cave smoke erupted in thick white plumes. There was so much it seemed like one solid cloud, almost the same size as that issued after a large summoning. After a few moments the smoke began to recede into wispy tendrils, revealing dozens of Naruto's across the cavern.

"You know the drill, twenty to each exercise." Naruto instructed them in a flat, resigned tone at the idea of the tedious training. Oh how he wished he would be learning a cool jutsu today. With a sigh, Naruto turned towards the house. "I guess I'll go see if I can get the fox to talk to me." Without waiting for a reply he walked into the house, intent on meeting his tenant. Had he looked at his grandfather, he would have seen the sudden narrowing of his eyes as he sensed something that Naruto couldn't.

"Yes, that's a good idea. I'll most likely be gone when you get back, I have business to take care of." He replied idly. Naruto heard the odd tone in his grandfather's voice, but shrugged it off. It wasn't unusual for him to have business suddenly. He'd learned not to ask him what it was, as he almost never answered.

 **— ₪ NTUC ₪ —**

Naruto sat in a lotus position in his room. His breathing was carefully regulated. Slowly, all sound bled away. The world around him ceased to exist as he willed himself to appear inside the seal.

 _Drip . . ._

 _Drip . . ._

 _Drip . . ._

He opened his eyes to the familiar sight of the physical representation of his seal. Up ahead he could see the entrance to the room that housed the Nine-Tails. Wordlessly he got to his feet and began to walk towards it. The wet slap of his sandals on the water reverberated off the narrow halls.

 **"Grrr, I see you're back again, foolish human."**

"Yes, I figured I'd come see how you're doing. You must get lonely in here. I figured maybe you'd finally want to talk." The fox snorted in derision at the blonde's statement. Behind the bars of his cage, his head lay on his crossed arms, the picture of boredom.

 **"You expect me, the mighty Nine-Tailed Fox, to lower myself to speak to a _human_ to pass the time? Worse yet, an Uchiha, the grandson of that bastard Madara."** The fox growled. Naruto had to fight down the instinctive urge to insult the fox back. He'd learned that it didn't do any good to react to his insults, that just encouraged him. Instead he opted to sit down on the water calmly, and simply look at the Nine-Tails.

"Well I figured that its better than just being alone in here."

The Nine-Tails didn't answer, he simply closed his eyes and tried to sleep. Naruto tried to engage the fox in conversation, telling him about his day, his training, what he was planning on having for dinner. He got no reply. The Nine-Tails stubbornly stuck to his declaration of not speaking to him. Naruto found himself having to resist sighing in frustration at the foxes continued stubbornness. _Maybe I should try something different . . ._

Most recently his lessons with his grandfather had included a lot of strategy. After what happened with the bullies, he'd taken it upon himself to–in his own words–"Beat it into you".

One of those lessons focused on trying different routes to achieve the desired outcome. Maybe he could apply that here by playing on the fox's ego.

"We should at least come to some sort of agreement. Like it or not, we're stuck together, and the man that removed you from my mother is still out there. He _will_ come for you again. We'll need to work together to be able to stop him, because this time, he won't simply let you get sealed."

As soon as the last sentence had left his mouth, the room became bathed in the Nine-Tail' killing intent. The mighty beast shot to his feet and fixed Naruto with a deadly glare. A snarled ripped from its muzzle. A shiver of fear shot down the Uchiha's back, and his breath caught in his lungs. Adrenaline began to flow through his body as the primal fear the beasts rage invoked triggered his fight or flight response.

 **"You think I need you _boy_? I don't! If that man comes for me again I will tear through this seal and crush you beneath my heel, then I will find a way to rip that monkey eye from his skull and obliterate him!"**

Slowly the killing intent disappeared, and the fox lay back down to sleep. It took a moment for the adrenaline to settle down in Naruto, but when it did, he gave a weary sigh. It seemed that he had messed up. Knowing that there wasn't anything else he could do that day, he began to walk towards the exit.

In the silence that followed the Nine-Tails rage, the splash of his sandals filled the entire room. He had almost reached the door before he paused, and spoke to the fox without looking back.

"Ya know, we don't have to be enemies. Like I said earlier, we're stuck together. We should make the most of it." He wasn't expecting a reply. Thus, he was surprised when he heard the foxes voice. The Nine-Tails had cracked an eye open to stare at the blonds back in puzzlement.

 **"Why do you try so hard to get me to speak with you, boy? Do you not hate me? After all, I was the one that killed your parents."**

Naruto stopped his exit, and glanced over his shoulder at the Nine-Tails. Perhaps he _did_ have a chance to make progress.

"No, I don't hate you. You were simply trying to avoid being locked up again, I probably would have done the same in your position." The Nine-Tails seemed stunned by his answer, though he was shocked even more by what followed after. "As for why I try hard to get you to speak to me, it's because I know how you've been treated in the past. You've been hated and hating in return for so long that hate has become all you know. I want to change that."

With that last declaration, Naruto pivoted on his heel and began to walk towards the entrance once more. He had just reached the archway that lead into the darkened corridor, when the Nine-Tails spoke from behind him.

 **"You're a fool, Naruto."**

Naruto couldn't help the grin that stretched his chubby face. He had finally made progress.

 **— ₪ NTUC ₪ —**

Night was just beginning to fall in Konoha. Outside, the temperature had fallen drastically, and storm clouds gathered. The howling wind and freezing rain battered the windows of the Hokage's office. To combat the darkness, the Hokage had placed a few candles on his desk. Every once in a while, lightning flashed across the sky, soon followed by a crack of thunder.

Inside that office, the elderly Third Hokage sat wearily at his desk, bent over a piece of paperwork. Hiruzen Sarutobi had spent a long career as a shinobi. He had survived through all three Great Ninja War's, and been Hokage for the entirety of two, and part of the other. In fact, his time in office exceeded that of the combined total of both his predecessors, as well as his successor. During this time he had acquired a vast amount of knowledge and experience. He even gained the title of God of Shinobi, and his appearance reflected his age and wisdom. Once he had stood at respectably average height, but time had robbed him of that height, and he now stood at just a few inches above five foot. His skin had lightened, and his once thick brown hair and goatee had become thinner and grey.

Hiruzen took an absent minded drag off his pipe as he worked on yet another form. The rich flavor of tobacco tingled across his pallet and helped to calm his stress from the seemingly never ending task that was filling out paperwork. The form he was working on now was merely one among several stacks that had yet to be completed. Truthfully, his heart wasn't in it. While usually doing the tedious work was hard enough, it was made even harder by his worry over the boy he had come to see as a grandson. _Where's Bear. He should have been back by now._

Recently he had taken note of Naruto's drastic increase in intelligence and skill. While normally it would be something to celebrate, he couldn't help but be slightly weary. It wasn't unheard of, but it was odd, especially for someone in Naruto's _situation_. To set his mind at ease, he had assigned an Anbu to follow Naruto and make sure no one was influencing Naruto, like his old _friend_ , Danzo Shimura. He cared about him far too much to allow him to be manipulated by that man. The Anbu he assigned, Bear, should have been back by now.

Sarutobi barely resisted the urge to send someone out after him. It was possible that the man had merely become so bored with his assignment that he lost track of time.

 _I'll wait another half hour. If he's not here by then, I'll send someone to look for him._

With nothing else to do, Sarutobi passed the time doing more paperwork. He tried to focus on it as best he could. It worked, for the most part, though, he was still hyper aware of every second that passed by.

Fifteen minutes went by rather quickly. Hiruzen had just reached for another piece of paper–an application to become a teaching assistant at the academy–when he felt a subtle shift in the air. It wasn't anything major, merely a slight tingling on his skin, as if a very light electricity was dancing across his body. It was still enough to cause his eyes to narrow. If it was anyone else, someone without his vast experience, they would likely have failed to notice it. But he had been around long enough to recognize a strong chakra signature being suppressed.

From the lack of reaction by his guards, he could tell that they couldn't sense it. That caused him to air on the side of caution. "Anbu, you're dismissed. Go have your replacements take up position at my home; I'll be there shortly. For now, I need to be alone."

He made sure to keep his face calm and pleasant. No need to make them think something was amiss. A slight whisper of displaced wind followed his statement. Once he was sure they were gone, his pleasant smile fell into a blank mask.

"You can come out now. I know you're there. If you're here to kill me, I think you'll find it more difficult than you might imagine." Anyone who saw him at that moment would have thought he was crazy, talking to the air as he was.

For a moment all was silent. Then, from the other side of the room, a man's voice spoke. It was ancient and cracking, but it still held a deep tone. "You believe I'm here to kill you, and yet you sent your guards away. A bold move, Sarutobi."

Hiruzen scowled into the darkness. Even as he replied to whoever was hidden in the room, he subtly moved so that he could easily get to his feet if necessary. "If you can hide your signature from them so well, they'd only get in the way."

The voice chuckled in amusement. For some reason, he didn't like that chuckle. It caused an itch in the back of his mind, as if it were trying to remind him of something.

"I suppose that's true enough," The person said musingly. "You certainly have stayed sharp in your old age, Sarutobi."

Hiruzen's eyes narrowed to slits. The more that man talked the more he felt he should know the voice. He tried racking his brain to figure out if he knew it, but every time he felt he was close to an answer, it slipped away, just out of reach. "I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage. You know my name, but I don't know yours."

Another chuckle. "Don't you?"

All of a sudden, a face loomed out of the darkness across the room. As soon as the face was revealed, Sarutobi's heart seized in his chest. The sight of the mummy-like old man, with his long, thin, white hair that covered one eye, filled him with dread. A dread he hadn't felt since he was a child. It wasn't the scythe that the man had turned into a can that frightened him. It wasn't even the sight of the Anbu slumped over his shoulder that frightened him. No, it was the eyes. Those blood-red eyes, with the three elongated tomoe marks connected together, forming a shuriken, with three straight bars extending to the edges of of the iris. The instant he saw them he knew who he was talking to. He _knew_ this man.

Sarutobi was left gaping at the man. Despite all of his experience and training he couldn't think to act. He didn't even get up from his chair. "Ma-Madara Uchiha. How?" He managed to mumble through his shock.

Madara chuckled, and stepped forward. "I'll presume you mean how am I alive. Let's just say that in my last battle with Hashirama, I made sure there were measures put in place in case I fell in battle."

Hiruzen wracked his brain to try and figure out what Madara meant. Over the years he had learned a lot about the Uchiha clan, and all clans within Konoha. In the end he could only think of one jutsu that could possibly have allowed him to survive that battle. "Izanagi. Somehow you made it so Izanagi activated after you died."

"Clever as always I see. Tobirama rubbed off on you a great deal." The elderly Uchiha continued to walk forward. He paused by the couch to dump the Anbu on his shoulder onto the cushion. As his head fell against the arm rest, Sarutobi noticed the bear mask that he wore. Madara followed his eyes.

"Don't worry, he's alive. He was merely knocked out when I erased his memory of finding Naruto with me. That was rather naughty of you, sending an Anbu to follow him."

That instantly snapped Hiruzen out of his fear. As soon as Naruto's name left Madara's lips, he leapt to his feet and assumed a defensive stance. His chair was sent crashing into the wall, but he ignored it.

"Where's Naruto, what do you want with him?" He demanded.

If he was intimidated, Madara didn't show it. Instead he calmly walked forward, and sat down in a chair off to the side. "I hope you don't mind; I find extended periods of exercise strenuous these days. Carrying that man all the way here nearly took all my strength."

Hiruzen didn't let down his guard at all. Even if he was extremely old and weak; Madara was most likely a fearsome foe without physical strength. "I'll only ask you this one last time. Where is Naruto? What do you want with him?"

"Naruto was right about you, you really are very protective of him. He is fine, he's at home. Well, the home he's been living in for the past eight months. That's when he started living with me." Madara told him. Hiruzen found himself unnerved by how calm the man was being. Whereas he himself had yet to relax his defensive stance, Madara hadn't even bothered to try and cover his vulnerabilities. He was also frustrated with the fact that Madara seemed to be dodging his question about what he wanted with Naruto.

"You're very calm, considering you're in the middle of a hidden village, and you claim to be physically exhausted."

Madara smirked. "That's because I didn't come here for a confrontation. I merely came here to introduce myself. And, to tell you a story."

Hiruzen looked at him skeptically. "A story? I'm afraid I'm not really in the mood for stories." His comment seemed to amuse Madara.

"Oh, I think you'll want to hear this story. You see, I think you'll find it will answer all your questions as to my intentions with Naruto, and set you at ease. Whether you believe it or not, is up to you." Now that got his attention.

"Very well, what is this story that will magically make me think you aren't a threat to Naruto." He asked skeptically. To be honest, he really didn't want to bother with listening to Madara. Unfortunately, he didn't see any other options. He didn't want a confrontation with this man, especially not in the center of the village.

"Why, that's simple. I'm going to tell you _my_ story. Right from the instant I was revived after my fight with Hashirama, straight up until the moment I revealed myself to you. You might want to sit down though, this might take a while."

Hiruzen begrudgingly accepted the suggestion; though he never took his eyes off Madara. Once he was settled he looked at the man opposite him with a harsh gaze. "Very well, I'm sitting down. Get on with it."

Madara smiled indulgently. "Of course. Though I hope you don't mind if I show you instead of telling you." Before Hiruzen could comprehend his statement, Madara's Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan began to spin rapidly. One second he was in his chair in his office, and then the next the world spun dizzyingly around him. When it stopped, he found himself in a world of red and black. They were standing in the middle of a rather plain looking room, with a couple chairs, and a large blank wall to the side.

He felt like cursing himself for his stupidity as soon as he realized what had happened. He'd been so caught up in finding out what was happening to Naruto, that now he was trapped in an illusion of the sharingan. When Madara appeared next to him, he was immediately on guard. Before he could speak, the Uchiha beat him to it.

"Oh relax. If I wanted to hurt you, I'd have used Tsukuyomi. As it is this is merely a simple illusion that sharingan users use to share information." Madara reassured him. Despite the Uchiha's reassurance, Hiruzen remained on guard. He was inside the illusion of one of the most dangerous shinobi in history after all. However, despite his reservations, he knew the Uchiha was right. Madara could have done much worse things than having them appear in an illusionary world together. An examination of his chakra network revealed that the Uchiha was telling the truth. This genjutsu was no more complicated than a Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings.

Hiruzen eyed Madara wearily. "I suppose I can view these _memories_ of yours. Whether I believe them or not, I shall decide after I have viewed them," He said.

The Uchiha inclined his head slightly. Madara turned his gaze to a wall beside them. "Good. We shall start at the beginning, my fight at the Valley of the End. I warn you, there are some things I will keep hidden. Even I am entitled to my secrets."

Hiruzen scoffed, and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't see that I have a choice. Very well, get on with it then." He snapped. This entire situation had him tense and stressed. He wished that Madara had brought his pipe into this world.

If Madara noticed his brusque tone, he chose to ignore it. Instead he turned fully to the wall. An image began to appear on the wall. Thankfully, it was in regular colors. It showed Madara's body–his younger body–lying on a steel table with a man bending over him. Hiruzen was shocked to realize that it was his sensei Tobirama Senju. "Well, it all started after my battle with Hashirama . . . "

They stood there for quite a while. Hiruzen wasn't exactly sure how long. It had to have been days, though. By the end of it, he was well and truly shocked. All of it seemed so fantastical, that he wanted to instantly write it off as nonsense. Minato Namikaze, the son of Madara Uchiha?

It was ridiculous, it couldn't be true. Yet as much as he wanted to deny it right away, there were some things that he had trouble explaining away. Kazehana, for instance. As soon as he had seen her, the sight of that sunny blond hair, and those electric blue eyes which had only seen in two other individuals, sent a shiver down his spine. _But_ , a voice in the back of his mind said, _that could easily be fabricated_. That only set Hiruzen at ease for a moment. For even if every other coincidence was explained away, there was one thing that couldn't be. Only two people in the world knew the story of how Minato was found, himself and Jiraiya. Hiruzen was absolutely certain there was no way Madara could have heard it. Yet his accounting of the events that day matched perfectly with Jiraiya's account.

In the end, though, it was one single thing that made Hiruzen believe Madara's story.

The very last memory they had viewed was the death of Minato and Kushina. At the end, he had seen tears begin to run down Madara's cheeks. He had thought it might be part of the illusion, but when the illusion was released the tears remained, and they were accompanied by a look of anguish in his eyes that he knew all too well. It was the look he saw in the mirror just a few years prior when his eldest son and his daughter-in-law died on a mission. The look of a father who knew he had failed to protect his child.

For a few moments they stood in silence. When Madara finally spoke, his voice was rather subdued, as if he was trying to control his emotions. "So, Sarutobi, do you believe me when I say I have no ill intentions towards Naruto?"

Hiruzen swallowed past a lump in his throat. "Yes, I do." He couldn't deny it anymore. For all intents and purposes, Madara was simply a grandfather who wanted to be near his grandson. There was still one thing that he wasn't sure about, though. "Tell me, Madara, why have you come here today? Why reveal yourself now? If you made Bear forget what he saw as you say, there was no need to risk exposure. You could have simply made him believe he had seen Naruto training alone."

Madara smirked, and subtly dried his eyes with his robes. "You are very perceptive, Sarutobi. I came here with a specific purpose in mind. I need a favor, you see." He told him.

"A favor?"

"Yes, a favor. While I've been training Naruto to the best of my abilities, I am quickly coming to find that my physical skills seem to be decreasing just as rapidly as Naruto's are increasing. I need someone to help him train in the physical skills like taijutsu." Madara explained.

Hiruzen nodded in understanding. It made sense. "So, you've come to ask me to help you find a tutor? It will be difficult, but I will gladly help." He offered.

To his surprise, Madara shook his head at his answer.

"No, that isn't what I meant. My existence must be kept as secret as possible. I need someone who's loyalty I can be certain of. I even have someone in mind," He said. "They are, however, out of reach. I require a certain jutsu contained in the Forbidden Scroll of Seals. _That_ , is why I've come here."

 _A certain jutsu?_ Hiruzen tried to think of which one he might mean. It didn't take too long. The words Madara had used made it rather easy to guess which one he meant. "The Reanimation Jutsu, that's what you want." He concluded. Madara's nod of confirmation was all he needed to know he was right. Hiruzen frowned in thought. "That's not an easy request. It's one thing for me to believe your intentions, it's another to grant you access to our villages most secret scroll of jutsu."

Madara let out a weary sigh. "I see. I was afraid you'd refuse." He made to get up to leave. Before he could, Hiruzen stopped him.

"I said it was not an easy request, not that I was unwilling to grant it," He said. It gained Madara's attention just as he'd hoped. "If I am to allow you access to the forbidden scroll, I want one hundred percent assurance of your intentions."

"Assurance, you say?" He saw Madara raise a questioning eyebrow, and he decided to clarify.

"Yes, assurance. I want a Yamanaka of my choosing to be allowed to enter your mind and read your thoughts," Madara opened his mouth to interrupt, but Hiruzen continued on before he could. "He will only inform me of what your intentions are, and afterwards I will allow you to erase his memories of the event."

For a few moments there was silence as Madara pondered his offer. His eyes were closed in thought. Outside the storm had been raging on as strong as ever, and the constant pounding of rain on the windows was the only noise in the room, while the smell of burning wax filled the air. Finally, Madara opened his eyes and stared directly at him.

"Very well, I accept your offer. "

 **— ₪ NTUC ₪ —**

When Naruto first learned that his grandfather had introduced himself to Gramps, he had felt terrified. For a brief moment he thought the happy life he had built with his grandfather would be shattered. Luckily, that turned out not to be the case, and in fact, he now found himself happier than ever. Needing to lie to everyone close to him had been like a weight he was carrying on his shoulders wherever he went. Now that Gramps knew about it, he felt as if a part of that weight had been lifted. Once again he could share everything with him, and it felt great.

Yes, all in all, his life had settled into a comfortable normalcy. He was advancing well in his training at home by getting his chakra control back up to par, and at the academy he continued to excel and compete with Sasuki for the top spot. He should have known the good times couldn't last.

That day started just like any other. He got up and fixed himself breakfast, took a shower, and brushed his teeth. His grandfather wasn't there to bid him goodbye, but that wasn't too unusual. All in all, there was no indication that the day would bring changes that would alter the course of his life, and the course of those dear to him, forever. It wasn't until he got to the academy that he began to feel something strange was going on. The courtyard was filled with students and families, who all looked confused. For some reason, all the lights were out, all the windows were dark. Everyone was just standing around in confusion, and a restless murmur filled the air.

 _Huh, I wonder what's going on. Why's everybody standing around?_ Naruto stared in confusion at the large crowd. The school should've been open by now, so why wasn't anyone going in? The gate creaked as he opened it and stepped into the courtyard, but it went unnoticed amongst the murmur of confused whispers. In puzzlement, he began to work his way to the front. Maybe he would find someone he knew who could tell him what was happening. He caught snatches of conversations as he made his way.

"Do you know what's going on?" One woman asked the man next to her.

"No, though somebody said the school was closed." He replied

 _School, closed?_ That stunned Naruto. He couldn't remember a time when the school was closed. Even when instructors got sick there was simply a substitution. Naruto continued to make his way to the front, with the aid of a bit of pushing and shoving. He tried asking a few people what was going on, but upon seeing who was asking, they would always turn away. Finally, he reached the front, and to his relief, he saw a familiar spiky black ponytail.

"Hey, Shikamaru, what's up?" He called out. The fair-skinned boy turned to him and fixed him with his lazy stare, his signature slouch in full effect.

"Oh, it's you, Naruto." He drawled.

Shikamaru Nara was a really lazy boy. All he really wanted to do was nap and look at clouds. Still, Naruto had become friends with him and his buddy Choji, a rather rotund boy who had a penchant for eating. Despite Shikamaru's laziness, Naruto had come to find that he was actually highly intelligent. He just didn't like to use his intelligence.

Naruto grinned at his friends put out expression. "Yeah, it's me. So, do you know what's going on?" He asked. Shikamaru let loose a sigh.

"Man, it's too much of a drag to explain this early. Take a look for yourself." He said, and jerked his head towards the door. Naruto followed his movement, and saw a large piece of paper pinned there.

He had to squint his eyes to see what it said.

 _Attention!_

 _Due to an issue of security,_

 _the instructors have been allocated to other duties._

 _Therefore, by order of the Third Hokage, all classes are canceled._

 _Do not be alarmed. Everything is under control._

 _Classes will resume in two days' time._

Naruto stared in shock at the message. "Man, what d'you think happened to make them assign all the instructors to other duties?" He asked Shikamaru.

The boy simply shrugged his shoulders. "How should I know. Though it's probably something troublesome." He answered. Naruto couldn't help but shake his head at his friend's attitude. It was typical Shikamaru. Even with something as strange as this he seemed like he couldn't be bothered to care.

"Well, I guess I'll see you later then. If class is canceled, I might as well go train somewhere." Said Naruto.

"Man, you can't even take a single day off. All that training is such a drag. As soon as Choji and Ino get here, I'm gonna go take a nap." Shikamaru called after him.

Naruto shook his head at his friend once more, and waved goodbye. By now, the crowd had thinned slightly, so it was much easier getting out. It might have been that the announcement had set him on edge, but Naruto began to pick up on odd things. For some reason, there weren't too many people out. _Strange, usually the streets should be bustling by now._ A look at his watch confirmed that it was just a little past nine o'clock in the morning. Usually the civilians had begun their days, but the streets were pretty quiet. The people who were out were traveling in groups, huddled together as if to keep warm. Perhaps strangest of all, he couldn't see a single shinobi around. All in all, it created a rather tense atmosphere.

 _Man, something really strange is going on._

 **— ₪ NTUC ₪ —**

When he got home, Naruto was relieved to see his grandfather standing on the porch. He immediately began to jog towards him excitedly. No matter how unsettled he was by what was going on outside, the sight of his grandfather always filled him with comfort. "Grandfather, I'm glad you're home. You won't believe it, but they canceled class today. Do you think we could do something new?" He asked excitedly. He figured with class canceled, it was the perfect time to learn something cool. However, when he saw his grandfather's face, he felt his excitement die. Madara looked unusually grim, even for his normally stoic self.

Naruto's smile disappeared, and he felt a bit of apprehension set in. "He-hey, is everything alright Grandfather?" He asked hesitantly. To his worry, his grandfather shook his head.

"I'm afraid something terrible has happened, Naruto." He answered solemnly. "Recently, the Uchiha Clan has been very unhappy with their situation in the village. For many months they have been planning a coup d'état. However, the village had spies that were keeping them abreast of the situation. The situation has been close to exploding for quite a while, despite the Hokage's best efforts to ease tensions."

A feeling of dread settled in the pit of Naruto's stomach. The first thing he thought of was Sasuki. "Wha- . . . what are you saying Grandfather? You said something terrible's happened, what is it?" He asked fearfully.

Madara's grip on his cane tightened. "Last night, an unsanctioned counter measure was taken without the knowledge of the Hokage." He answered. Naruto felt his stomach drop.

"What counter measure? Why aren't you answering me? Is everything alright, what about Sasuki?" Naruto began to panic.

His grandfather only closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. "Last night, one of the Uchiha's own took it upon himself to stop the coup before it could happen. Your friends brother killed the entire clan to prevent the coup before it could happen. I'm afraid your friend was the only survivor."

Instantly, Naruto felt as if his blood had frozen in his veins. Hearing that his friend was alive should have settled his mind, but it only made him worry more. "Where is she? Is she okay?" he whispered hoarsely. His grandfather seemed to look reluctant to answer, but finally he gave in.

"Right now she's in the hospital. She seems to have gone into a shock induced coma from the trauma–WAIT NARUTO!" As soon as the word coma left his grandfather's mouth, Naruto turned and bolted towards the exit.

He was determined to see his friend. He had to know she was alright. _Hang on Sasuki, I'll be there soon._

 **— ₪ NTUC ₪ —**

Naruto dashed through the streets with all his speed. He was heedless of everything around him, and simply dodged around anything in his way. Finally, after five agonizing minutes, he reached the hospital. Without pause, he rushed to the reception desk, and shouted to the startled nurse; "Sasuki Uchiha, where is she!"

The nurse seemed so stunned by his sudden entrance and outburst, that she answered automatically. "Sh-she's on the third floor, in the special security ward, but—" Naruto took off once more.

"HEY WAIT, YOU CAN'T GO UP THERE, THE ENTIRE FLOOR IS LOCKED DOWN!" The nurse shouted after him. But Naruto didn't care. All that he knew was that he needed to see his friend.

Naruto ignored the elevators, and instead dashed up the stairs. Despite his small stature, he took them two at a time. On the flight of stairs between the second and third floors, he ran headlong into a doctor who was on his way down, sending him tumbling. Naruto didn't spare the man a second glance.

By the time he set foot on the third floor, he was panting heavily. Still, his eyes searched wildly for some indication of where the Special Security Ward might be. Finally, they landed on a pair of doors on the opposite end of the hall, with the words "Special Security" painted on the windows. "There!"

Again he took off, and began racing towards the doors. He had made it halfway down the hall, when suddenly he was surrounded by four Anbu. Before he could react, he found himself being restrained. Three of them grabbed onto his arms and neck, while a female Anbu with a cat mask landed in front of him, and unsheathed her sword. She held it in a ready stance.

"Halt, this floor is off limits!" She commanded. Naruto simply growled, and began to struggle against his captures. It was hard. They were fully grown adults, and he was just a kid. Still, he grit his teeth and pulled with all his strength.

"Let me go, my friend's in there. Sasuki Uchiha, I need to see her. I have to make sure she's okay!" He shouted desperately.

The Anbu didn't relax her stance, but when she next spoke, her tone was much softer. "I'm sorry, but no one is allowed to see her except for the Hokage. Please stop struggling. If you don't, we will have to use force."

"I don't care." He ground out, and instead redoubled his efforts. Rage began to bubble inside him. Why couldn't these people understand? He had to see his friend! Unconsciously, he began to draw on the power of his tailed beast. He felt a slight burning sensation, and suddenly his strength seemed to increase fifteen-fold. "Let. Me. Through."

With his new found strength, he tore his right arm free. He then used it to grab onto the arm around his neck, and send the man it belonged to flying over his shoulder. The Anbu seemed stunned by his strength. He took advantage of the slight hesitation on their part to grab the wrist of his last capture and twist it violently. There was a sickening _SNAP_ , as if dry wood was breaking, and suddenly the man was cradling his broken wrist.

Naruto didn't hesitate. Immediately, he made to charge forward towards the last Anbu, who had prepared to bring her sword down on him. If it were up to him he would've continued his charge, however, he was halted by a firm hand grasping his shoulder, and a familiar voice barking at him.

"Naruto! Stop this immediately, what do you think you're doing attacking my Anbu?" For the first time since he had heard Sasuki was in the hospital, Naruto stopped moving. He turned to the person that had grabbed his shoulder, and met the stern gaze of his Gramps. Naruto could feel the adrenaline that had been filling him begin to fade, and his rage at the Anbu began to fade with it. Still, he felt a lingering spark of frustration and anger.

"They won't let me through, I told them I need to see Sasuki, but they wouldn't listen!" The Hokage's glare softened.

"They are merely doing their jobs. I ordered them not to allow anyone entry besides myself and the head medic." He said sternly, Naruto wilted under his gaze. As he calmed down, he looked to see the man he had thrown over his shoulder–an Anbu wearing a boar mask–standing up slowly. He also saw the man whose wrist he had broken leaning on his companion, who wore a lizard mask. Suddenly, he began to feel slightly guilty. They were only doing their duty, and he had injured them. Finally, he let his body relax, and he slumped in resignation.

"Please. I need to see her." He said softly. With that one sentence, he tried to communicate his desperation. Sasuki was his first and best friend. He _had_ to make sure she was ok. The Hokage seemed to understand. He looked at him with compassion, and patted him on the shoulder gently.

"Of course, I will take you to see her. She isn't awake yet, but you can sit by her side until she does."

Naruto nodded gratefully, and allowed himself to be led towards the doors he had been so desperately trying to reach. On the way there, Gramps paused for a moment to speak to the cat masked Anbu.

"Neko, have your injured squad mates report to headquarters and send replacements." He ordered.

She nodded, and bowed her head slightly. "Yes, Lord Hokage."

With that, they continued into the Special Security Ward. Naruto found himself surprised by it. It wasn't so much a ward, as a very large room. The walls were painted a muted cream color, and were lined with fancy machines. One side of the room had a wall of windows, that gave a view of the entire village. And in the center of it all, there was a single bed, with a couple chairs set next to it. Naruto's eyes instantly locked onto the occupant of the bed. Sasuki's raven colored hair was splayed out on her pillow, and her face was surprisingly peaceful. It would have almost looked like she was sleeping, if it weren't for all the tubes and wire attached to her, monitoring her vitals. Naruto was surprised by how delicate she looked. He was so used to seeing her strong and full of life, that it was slightly unnerving.

Hiruzen guided him to one of the chairs. He sat down absentmindedly, and continued to stare at his friend. The Hokage took a seat next to him.

"As far as we can tell, there's no physical damage. It appears to be entirely mental, likely due to the trauma of what she saw." He told him. Naruto nodded absentmindedly. It set him a bit at ease to know that she wasn't gravely injured.

"The head medic seemed to suspect that she's been put through a particularly devastating genjutsu, one she hasn't encountered before." He informed him. That managed to shake Naruto out of his stupor.

"It's probably Tsukuyomi. It's one of the most powerful genjutsu of our clan." He said. Hiruzen nodded in agreement.

For a while, they just sat there in silence. The only noise was the steady beeps of the machines that Sasuki was hooked up to. Eventually, his Gramps stood up, and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"You can visit her as long as you like. I'll make sure the guards know to allow you entry from now on." With that, he left Naruto to sit in silence with his friend.

 **— ₪ NTUC ₪ —**

It was several days before Sasuki woke up from her coma. When she did, Naruto noticed a marked change in her. For the first few days she didn't really say much. She just said in her bed and stared out the window. When it came time for her meals, he was concerned to notice that she barely touched her food. All he could do though was stay by her side, and try to get her to talk. After about a week she started to talk more frequently, and he began to hope that maybe she would recover.

Two weeks after the Uchiha Massacre, as it came to be called, he managed to convince her to go to her parent's funeral. It was a much smaller ceremony than the large memorial service that had been held for the clan, and she had stood with tears running down her face the entire time.

A month after the incident, she was almost back to normal. But there were some key differences that, if he was quite honest, concerned him. After the event, she had become much more cold, and her kindness showed itself less and less. With him she was still relatively normal, but with others she had become much brusquer, and she lost her patience with people easily. Perhaps the most concerning was the growing darkness he saw in her. Sasuki hated her brother, and he was pretty sure that she wanted revenge. He began to feel as if he was losing her to their clans Curse of Hatred. That was another thing that bothered him.

More than ever he struggled with the uncertainty of whether he should tell her he was an Uchiha. Ultimately, he decided not to; at least not yet. A conversation with his grandfather had helped him see that it might shatter her trust, and drive her even further towards the Curse.

All in all, he was left feeling helpless, and that frustrated him beyond belief. In response, he'd thrown himself into his training. He resolved that he would never let something like this happen to his friend ever again.

Most days, he spent every second that he wasn't at the academy or with Sasuki in the grotto training, however, today his grandfather had convinced him to take a break. Apparently he had something special he wanted to show him.

He was standing inside the grotto, the forge specifically. It was a special cave that branched off from the main cavern via a narrow tunnel. The walls had been completely smoothed out, as had the ceiling, which had several square holes burrowed into it. They went all the way to the surface, and served as both chimneys and a form of air flow.

"Well, what's this special thing you want me to see, that's so important I have to stop my training?" He asked irritably. Naruto had noticed that in the center, a clay tub for forging had been erected. Man, he really hoped his grandfather hadn't dragged him here just to make another batch of kunai and shuriken.

His grandfather was standing in front of him, near the far wall by the table where they kept the plans for their weapons. Apparently, he didn't take too kindly to Naruto's question, because before he could react, Madara lashed out with lightning quick speed and smacked him over the head with his cane.

 _BONK._

"Ow!"

"Watch your tone, young man." His grandfather said, with a stern look on his face. Naruto shot him a mutinous glare, but he kept his mouth shut. Madara gave a satisfied nod, and turned back to the table, where he unrolled a large scroll. He placed paper weights on each corner to keep it open, and then turned back to Naruto.

"Now, as you've been asking me about it so often, I assume you'd like to know why I've been drawing blood from you. I _would_ be correct in that assumption, yes?"

For a moment, Naruto could only blink in surprise. When his grandfather's words finally registered, he nodded eagerly. "Of course, you know I've been dying to find out!" He replied eagerly.

"Good, then to start, I'll give you a small explanation of the Magnet Style," Madara said. Naruto tilted his head in curiosity. Of all the things he was expecting, that certainly wasn't it. "You see, each user has their own unique way of using it, a specific medium, if you will. The use is usually instinctual. For some, like your grand-uncle, they use metal dust. For others, like your grandmother, they use preformed weapons, which they can manipulate at will." He explained.

Naruto's eyes widened in awe. This was the first real explanation he was getting about his second bloodline. "So how do we find what medium I use?" He asked eagerly.

His grandfather narrowed his eyes in annoyance, and began to lift his cane threateningly. Naruto flinched involuntarily. To his dismay, his grandfather smirked smugly.

"I was about to get to that." He growled irritably. "Now, as I was saying, each person has their own instinctual medium. I believe yours has already shown itself. Do you remember how you killed those men when you awakened your power?"

Naruto thought back to his traumatic experience. His memory was a little fuzzy due to the trance, but he could recall the flashes of metal. It took him a moment, but finally, it came to him. "The slivers, the weapons scattered into slivers of metal!" He concluded. Madara nodded proudly, and offered him a rare smile.

"Very good. Yes, I believe you will use those slivers. Now if you were to continue this you would need to carry around weapons in seals, like your grandmother, expending time and energy to release them, and then turn them into shards. In a fight this would be very detrimental. That is where–" Madara paused, and stepped to the side. He motioned Naruto forward, and for the first time, he saw the scroll his grandfather had laid out. It showed a katana, with a strange window-pane-like cross guard. The entire drawing was covered in scribbled notes and calculations. "–this sword comes in."

Naruto stared at the blueprints in awe. If they were to be believed, then the sword would be amazing! "I see you've already begun to grasp what I'm trying to do. By combining my powers with the blood I've collected, and a huge amount of special metal sand I've obtained from the Land of Iron, we will craft you a sword that will allow you to effortlessly channel your powers." His grandfather said proudly.

For a few moments, Naruto could only stare at the plans with his jaw agape. Finally, he composed himself, and turned to his grandfather with an eager smile. "I can't believe you came up with this. When can we start?" He asked excitedly.

His grandfather chuckled, and ruffled his hair playfully. "We start immediately. With the two of us, this should take around six months. Now, go get the fire started. I'll begin releasing the sand from the storage scrolls."

Naruto nodded eagerly, and quickly got to work on his grandfather's orders. For the first time in a month, he didn't feel so helpless. This sword would help him attain the strength he needed to help protect those he cared about, and especially Sasuki. He couldn't wait until it was finished.

 _Sasuki, I promise I'll always be there for you!_

 **— ₪ NTUC ₪ —**

 **— 6 Months Later —**

Madara stood in the middle of the training ground. The flickering torchlight lit it in a soft yellow glow. He had put Naruto to bed an hour ago. Earlier that day, he had given him his finished sword. He had dubbed it Senbonzakura, and it was a masterpiece. If he did say so himself. His grandson had spent the whole day practicing with it, but eventually he had become exhausted, and he had convinced him to go to sleep. Now that the younger Uchiha was sleeping peacefully, he was ready to enact the plan that he had been making for the past 6 months.

It had taken a lot of convincing to get Hiruzen to hand over the jutsu he needed, and even longer to get the thing he needed, a sample of blood. Luckily, the sacrifice he needed had been an easy find. A pathetic excuse of a man, a bandit that nobody was going to miss.

Madara channeled his chakra, and began to form hand seals. _Tora, Mi, Inu, Tatsu . . ._ Madara clapped his hands together, and unleashed his chakra.

" **Summoning Jutsu: Reanimation!** " He whispered.

Sweat beaded his brow from the strain of the jutsu. A void formed in the ground, glowing with an intense purple light. From within, a coffin began to emerge, rising up to face Madara. When the coffin was fully emerged, intense purple light began to fade.

All was silent in the cavern. Madara admired his handiwork. It had taken a long time to get it ready; his only regret was that he couldn't return either of Naruto's parents to him. One was trapped in the stomach of the Shinigami, and the other had left orders for her body to be completely cremated upon her death. Nevertheless, he was certain the person he chose would be loyal to Naruto, and help him when he no longer could. Madara sent chakra to his eyes, activating the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. The three elongated tomoe, with the circles at their ends and bars on the outside, began to spin. A ripple pulsed outwards from his pupil, unleashing concentric black rings that left a light grayish purple in their wake, spreading across the entire sclera and irises.

An eerie creak filled the cavern as the lid toppled forth, hitting the stone floor with a reverberating— _CLACK_. Madara looked into the brown eyes of the coffins occupant, which were looking around in shock.

"Greetings. My name is Madara Uchiha, and I have a proposition for you."

 **— ₪ NTUC ₪ —**

 **AN/ Ok, so that's the end of chapter 3. Obviously, this chapter is a little longer than I usually like, but I really wanted to get the pre-cannon out of the way as soon as possible. Now we're on our way to cannon.**

 **Now, before anyone gets on me about Naruto being over powered because he took out a couple Anbu; keep in mind, it happened very fast, so they had little time to react, and combined with his enhanced strength, and their reluctance/surprise to fight a child, he was able to take a couple down. Had the fight continued any longer, he would have been subdued rather easily.**

 **Well, that's all for now. Join in next week for the next instalment of the story.**

 **Next Time: The Graduation Mission, Trapping a Traitor!**

 **So, read, favorite, review, and follow.**

 **Until next time,**

 **RinneTaicho, Signing off!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Naruto: The Uchiha Chronicles**

 **AN/ Hey yo, so, here's the fourth chapter of my re-write. Now, originally I didn't think there would be that many differences, but after reading this chapter again, I realized that except for the first scene I pretty much had to write it from scratch, so this may actually be the most different chapter. Oh, and in case there was some confusion, this used to be chapter six.**

 **So, the response continues to be pretty positive. I don't have much news for today, except for the fact that I'll be editing chapter 3, since I kind of forgot to mention the human sacrifice Madara used.**

 **Anyways, on with the chapter!**

Normal speech: "what"

Extremely loud group/single person shouting: "WHAT!"

Thoughts/Speech taken out of context: _'what'_

Letter/Book/Written text: ' _What'_

Demon/Summon speech: **"what"**

Demon/Summon thoughts: **_'what'_**

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or Bleach, that honor belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and Tite Kubo respectively.

 **Arc II: Formation of Team 7:**

 **Chapter 4: The Graduation Mission, Trapping a Traitor!**

 **— ₪ NTUC ₪ —**

Sorrowful electric-blue eyes gazed at a grave stone. It wasn't anything special, made of a simple smooth white stone, with a name and epithet carved into its face. Perhaps the most significant part was the Uchiha crest emblazoned at the top of the stone, directly over the neatly carved name.

 _Madara Uchiha_

 _A man who loved his family._

A gentle breeze passed by, whipping through the boys long black hair, which was held up into a high ponytail, with a streak of blond along the right side of his head. Naruto didn't pay the breeze any mind, too intent on his mourning to care. It had been a little over six months since his grandfather had passed away. The death hadn't come as a surprise to either of them; Madara had made no attempt to hide his deteriorating health in the past year. Near the very end, he had been bedridden constantly.

Despite the long amount of time he had to prepare for the death, it still hurt Naruto. He had taken a week off from the academy, to travel to the Land of Rivers to bury his grandfather alongside his grandmother behind their old house. And now he was here once more, the day before his final test.

The gentle fragrance of flowers planted by his grandmother long ago filled the air. It was truly a tranquil place, one where his grandfather could finally rest in peace.

"Hey Grandfather, it's me. I figured I'd come and see you and Grandmother one more time before the test." Naruto said to the gravestone. "You'll be glad to hear I haven't slacked off in my training, I think I'm starting to get the hang of that new jutsu, though it still isn't mastered." Naruto looked up at the sky for a moment, watching the clouds drifting overhead

"This'll be the last time I get to come here for a while. Once I pass the test, I'll be a fully-fledged shinobi. I'll finally be able to start helping Sasuki, and restoring our clan's reputation once the Chūnin Exams roll around."`

He had never forgotten his promise to the raven-haired girl, even if she wasn't aware of it. While he hadn't been able to tell her who he really was, he had remained her friend. "To be honest, I'm actually a little excited. I've spent so long with limits to my strength, it'll feel good being able to cut loose a little. I know you'd scold me for that." Naruto snorted. There was no doubt his grandfather would admonish him for thinking like that. He'd whack him over the head with his cane, and lecture him about not revealing his secrets until he needed to. Naruto allowed himself a brief melancholy smile. It made him think of all the happy times training with his grandfather. Unfortunately, he wasn't allowed to reminisce for long.

 ** _You'd better wrap it up brat, you have to be back in Konoha by midnight tomorrow_**

Naruto let loose a sigh. He wished he had more time. _I know, just give me one more minute, Kurama._

His relationship with the Nine-Tails had been another thing to change over the past five years. At first the fox had maintained his desire to be left alone, but eventually he started to come around, and they enjoyed a sort of mutual agreement as partners. He'd even managed to find out Kurama's name; through an insane amount of pestering, of course!

Naruto himself preferred to think they were friends, but he didn't bother bringing it up to Kurama, since the fox would just deny it and threaten to rip out his eyes (again).

Shaking himself from his reverie, Naruto looked back at the tombstone.

"I promise you Grandfather. I'll restore our family—our clans—pride. I guess I'll see you when I can finally get time to come back. Until then, bye."

Closing his eyes and taking a last whiff of the aroma of flowers in the air, Naruto vanished from the garden in back of the simple wooden house. He had to get back home so he could take his final academy test, and begin his journey to restore the clans honor.

 **— ₪ NTUC ₪ —**

 _BEEP BEEP BEEP!_

 _BEEP BEEP BEEP!_

 _BEEP BEE—SMASH!_

A groggy pair of eyes cracked open. Naruto sat up with a groan, as he tried to clear his hazy mind of the last vestiges of sleep. He looked to his nightstand, and sighed when he saw the smashed alarm clock. _Hmph, looks like I need a new one . . . again._ He shrugged.

 ** _What's that, the third this month?_** Kurama asked mockingly

Naruto ignored his prisoner and or friend (it really depended which one you were asking). He stretched his arms over his head with a tired yawn. It took him longer than he had expected to get back to Konoha; he had only arrived back at three o'clock in the morning the night before, leaving him with only four hours' sleep. Despite this, he felt an overabundance of energy.

Today was finally the day! After today he would finally be a shinobi.

Hopping out of bed, Naruto walked across the room to his bathroom to take a shower. Naruto washed his body with deft quickness, finishing his shower within ten minutes. He took a moment to towel off—drying his hair with some fire chakra to speed up the process—before he exited the shower, not bothering to cover his nakedness. It wasn't like anyone was there to see him. Naruto had grown in the past five years, his grandfather's strict training regimen and his healthy diet had allowed Naruto to grow into a very tall and fit young man. Compact and defined muscles rippled beneath his skin, and he was the tallest out of his class.

His closet slid open with an almost inaudible shuffling sound, and Naruto grabbed his clothes from within. First he pulled on his black shinobi pants, which he bound at the shins with white tape. Then he pulled on a mesh undershirt, over which went his black short-sleeved kimono top, which had a greyish-purple inseam and border. He quickly tied his top closed with a white sash, and then pulled on his white arm guards, which covered the front of his forearms up to his elbows. Last but not least, he attached his equipment pouch to the back of his hip.

He then stood in front of the mirror, and pulled his hair up into what had become his signature high ponytail, with a set of his blond-tipped bangs partially covering his right eye. After he was finished, he just stood in front of the mirror for a moment, and took a deep breath.

"Today will be interesting . . . I can feel it." He mumbled.

 **— ₪ NTUC ₪ —**

Naruto, alongside what remained of his classmates, was waiting for the final part of the graduation exam. They had already completed the written part earlier in the day, and the accuracy and taijutsu portions the day before. Now, though, they had to do the practical part; performing a randomly selected e-rank jutsu for the instructors. So far, most of the class had gone and either passed or failed The only ones that had yet to take it were himself, Ino, and a couple of civilian students, with Sasuki having been called in just a few minutes before.

Despite how confident he was in his skills; Naruto was anxious to get the exam finished. Most people were curious about the results, because it would most likely decide the Rookie of the Year. The Rookie of the Year was decided by combining the overall score from their time in the academy, and the score on the final exam.

Whoever had the highest combined score got the title. Since the competition between him and Sasuki had been so close, it was possible that the Rookie of the Year would depend on the exam alone. But a lot more was at stake than a simple title.

Though most people didn't know it, the potential teams would be a lot different depending on the results. If Naruto got Rookie of the Year, then Sasuki would become Kunoichi of the Year, and they would automatically be placed on the same team. But if she became Rookie of the Year, then someone else would be Kunoichi of the Year, and it would be very unlikely they would be on the same team. Naruto wanted to do everything possible so they could be on the same team. He was fairly confident that he would win, but you could never know . . .

 ** _What are you going to do if your little girlfriend beats you and you aren't on the same team?_** Kurama asked him goadingly. Naruto couldn't help but flush at the fox's taunt. Not because of the fact he was saying he'd lose, but because of his insinuation about Sasuki.

 _It's not like that Kurama! We're just friends_ He insisted. To his dismay, all he heard was a snort from the tailed beast.

Suddenly, he was taken out of his musing by the sound of the door sliding open. A second later, Sasuki stepped out of the classroom and into the hall. Naruto's eyes automatically flickered to her forehead, where he wasn't surprised to see a brand new blue-clothed headband. His then met her gaze and offered her a slight smirk.

"Well, I guess you didn't have any trouble then." He said. Sasuki scoffed at his words.

"Please, what did you expect? I'd think even an idiot like you could pass that test." She replied, with a smirk of her own. As he often did, Naruto found himself entranced by his best friend's beauty. Even if they were just friends, it didn't mean he couldn't appreciate her looks. She'd changed a lot since they were younger. Gone was the tomboyish clothes of her youth. Now she let her long blue-tinted ebony tresses flow free like her mother, and she favored a feminine Uchiha high-collared zip-up tank top, unzipped down to the top of her chest, and a white apron skirt with black shorts underneath. That wasn't even mentioning her developing figure.

Although, her looks weren't the only thing that had changed. She wasn't as bad as she was in the first year after her family's death, but she was still rather cold to pretty much anyone but him. Even then, for most people that didn't know her as well as he did, they would think she was rather scathing towards him.

"Tch, please. Just because you had the top spot most of the month, don't be getting cocky. I've still had it more than you." He shot back. Before they could get too into their back and forth, Iruka's voice called out from inside the classroom.

"Next up, Naruto."

Naruto gave Sasuki one last smirk, and then made his way into the room. Without all the kids in its tiered seats, the classroom looked even larger than normal. Iruka looked much the same as he had since he became their instructor their second year, with his brown hair in a spiky pineapple-ponytail, his deep tan skin, and the large scar across the bridge of his nose. Naruto had always liked Iruka, since he was actually nice to him and didn't seem to hate him for being the jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails. Next to him sat another man, one of a paler complexion.

The pale skinned man stood out most with his silver hair, odd for someone his age. Other than that, he didn't have any distinguishing marks. The man's name was Mizuki. He had joined the teaching staff as Iruka's assistant two years ago, and Naruto found out almost immediately that, unlike Iruka, Mizuki clearly hated him and was one of those that thought he was Kurama.

Iruka smiled at Naruto kindly. "Alright Naruto, you have to successfully use the Clone Jutsu to pass."

Naruto nodded confidently.

"Of course." He said. Years ago, he might have been worried about the clone jutsu, but he had gained an amazing amount of control over the years, especially for a jinchuriki. Of course, he didn't gain it _solely_ through training, but that was a story for another time. So, instead of worrying, he stepped confidently into the center of the room, and quickly performed the seals. " **Clone Jutsu!** "

Instantly, a massive amount of— _PUFF_ —sounds filled the air. Just as Naruto had promised, the room was filled with illusionary clones, crammed closer together than canned sardines. They even covered the walls and ceiling. Naruto took more than a little pleasure in the surprised look on Iruka's face, and the downright shocked look Mizuki was sporting. His jaw was literally hanging open!

When Iruka recovered from his surprise, he clapped proudly at the performance. "Very well done Naruto. I think that's the most clones I've ever seen, and they all look extremely real. Needless to say, you graduate. Now come up and choose your forehead protector."

Naruto acknowledged his sensei with a nod, and walked up to the table, where they had laid out headbands of varying styles and colors. A simple black-clothed forehead protector caught his eye immediately. He reached town and picked it up off the table and tied it loosely around his neck.

"Well, congratulations on graduating Naruto." Iruka said, though he smiled even wider at him, and continued. "Also, although I'll need to tally the score to be sure, I'm pretty sure you've earned Rookie of the Year with this performance."

That drew a rare beaming smile to Naruto's face. "Thanks sensei. I guess I'll see you in a couple days for the orientation."

With that, Naruto strode out of the room. On his way out, he caught something odd out of the corner of his eye. It almost looked as if Mizuki was staring at him with malice, but when he looked again, he was simply looking at him with that same thinly veiled disgust as usual. _That's really odd. Kurama, was that just me?_

Naruto had learned that Kurama could sense negative feelings. If he were to gain enough control, he would gain the power as well, but for now he had to depend on Kurama.

 ** _No. It was fleeting, but that man definitely has some bad intentions. I can't tell whether he has something planned or not, so I'd advise being careful._** Kurama replied.

Naruto nodded absentmindedly. As he exited the room, he immediately noticed that Sasuki was there waiting for him across the hall. She had her arms crossed, and was giving him her signature scowl, though he could tell there wasn't any heat behind it.

"So, I suppose you got Rookie of the Year?" She stated bluntly. Naruto rose an eyebrow at how calm she seemed over it.

"Yeah, I did. You don't sound surprised." Although he said it as a statement, Sasuki obviously took it as the question it was. As they started to walk outside together, she answered his unasked question.

"He didn't exactly say it, but Iruka hinted pretty strongly that unless you failed that part I would be Kunoichi of the Year." She said with a nonchalant shrug. To Naruto's surprise, she gave him a rare smile. "You shouldn't be so surprised. After all, it's based on overall grades, and I never did as good as you in team work and assertiveness. I can't help it if I don't like people."

Naruto snorted in laughter at that. Sasuki wasn't shy about the fact she didn't like most of the people in their class. Whether it be her male fans, or the females who looked up to her, she found them annoying.

"So, you wanna go eat somewhere to celebrate?" He asked hopefully. To his disappointment, Sasuki merely shook her head.

"No thanks, I'm going to go try out a new jutsu. I want to get it down before our orientation." Although Naruto was disappointed, he wasn't surprised. It wasn't uncommon for Sasuki to prefer training to hanging out. Not that he was much better.

"Oh well, I guess I'll see you then. I've got a jutsu I'm working on too." Replied Naruto. For just an instant their eyes met, and he saw the light of competition dancing in her eyes.

"I bet I get done first. How many times do you think you'll blow yourself up this time?" She asked mockingly. Naruto felt his cheeks heat up at her reminder of some of his more . . . destructive, attempts at creating jutsu.

In response, he fired up and said, "Yeah, well I don't see you making any jutsu from scratch, you just have to read a scroll and do what it says. No imagination!" Unfortunately, his comment didn't have the effect he was hoping for.

"Tch, better unimaginative than missing all my hair. How long did it take to regrow again?"

Naruto growled, and felt his face heat up even more. "Hey, that was one time!" He protested.

"Whatever, I'll see you later." She replied, with a vacant wave. Naruto sighed, and waved back.

"Yeah, I'll see you in a couple days."

 **— ₪ NTUC ₪ —**

As he left the academy, Naruto couldn't help feeling he was being followed. It was hard to tell, though, considering the numerous families that filled the schoolyard. For all he knew, it could just be one of the numerous parents that were sending him dirty looks upon seeing the leaf headband he wore around his neck. In the end he just brushed it off, and continued on his way. He had better things to do. By now the sun was pretty low in the sky, and he found himself admiring the streaks of orange that filled the sky.

A half mile down the street he felt the feeling again, as if there were a pair of eyes watching him, but this time he could actually hear someone walking behind him. _Alright, this is getting annoying_. Naruto was just about to turn around and tell off whoever was following him, when a hand suddenly clasped his shoulder from behind. He felt his heart jump in his chest, and to his shame he actually flinched slightly. It was all he could do not to grab the hand of the person and toss them over his shoulder. Instead, he turned his head slightly to see who it was, and it was probably the last person he was expecting right now.

Mizuki removed his hand from his shoulder, and smiled at him sheepishly. "Hey Naruto, didn't mean to scare you. I was just trying to catch up with you." Clearly (much to Naruto's annoyance), he'd noticed his reaction

Naruto managed to hold in his surprise at Mizuki's words, and instead answered nonchalantly. "That's fine, I was just surprised is all. You should be careful not to sneak up on another shinobi, you never know how they might react. They might just try and kill you" He took great satisfaction in the way Mizuki's smile became slightly more strained. "Anyways, why were you trying to catch up with me, Mizuki-sensei?"

In an instant, any annoyance was wiped from Mizuki's face, and he said, "Ah, yeah, I was trying to catch up with you because us teachers had a conversation about you. We were all very impressed by how well you did on this exam. Overall, you got the highest score in the academy's history!"

Now that actually surprised Naruto. He knew he had done good, but he didn't think he had done _that_ good. When you considered the academy's history included people like his father, Kakashi Hatake, and Itachi, he was in rare company.

"Well thanks. I worked really hard to prepare for it." He said. Just because he didn't like the man and vice versa, didn't mean he couldn't be polite. "Well, if that's all, I have somewhere to be. I gotta go eat, and then I'm going to go tell Gramps that I graduated."

Naruto still remembered the look in Mizuki's eyes earlier, and he was eager to get away from him. Not that he was afraid of him, he just didn't want to be near him.

He expected that to be the end of their conversation, but apparently he was wrong.

"Actually, there was something else. You see, we were so impressed by your performance, that we decided to offer you a special test. Call it a bonus exam." Mizuki said quickly. Naruto rose an eyebrow in surprise.

 _A bonus exam?_ He hadn't ever heard of anything like that before.

He turned to Mizuki's fully, and gave him his undivided attention. "A bonus exam? Why?"

"Well, we wanted to offer you the chance to pick your team. Usually the Rookie of the Year is paired with the Kunoichi of the Year, and some other member who is very weak in a certain area. We thought we'd give you the option to pick the third member and make your team really strong. How does that sound?" Mizuki answered smoothly.

From the instant he'd heard of the 'test', Naruto had been suspicious. Now he knew something was off. Maybe Mizuki was trying to pull some sort of cruel prank. _What do you think Kurama, do you sense anything off?_ To his annoyance, he received no reply. He waited for a few moments, but it became clear he wasn't getting one. _Stupid fox is probably sleeping. Of course it's when I need him._

"Well, what do you think?" Mizuki asked. Naruto shook his head of the thoughts of Kurama. It seemed he was on his own, and Mizuki was expecting an answer. He'd have to play along for now to see what his game was.

"That sounds pretty good. What does this test involve?" Mizuki grinned at his answer, and slapped him on the shoulder.

"I knew you'd be up for it. A couple people said you wouldn't, but they don't know how competitive you are. Anyways, for the test, you have to sneak into the Hokage's office and steal the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing, and learn a jutsu from it." Said Mizuki.

Naruto fought to keep his eyes from stretching wide in shock. As soon as Mizuki mentioned what he wanted, he got a sick feeling in his gut. This went way beyond a prank.

"Steal the Forbidden Scroll?" He asked in shock. Clearly Mizuki saw his surprise, and he patted his shoulder reassuringly.

"Don't worry, you won't get into any trouble. The Hokage is aware of the test, all you have to do is get the scroll, and bring it to this location after you've learned a jutsu from it." He said, and pressed a piece of paper into Naruto's hand.

He was hyper sensitive to the feel of the smooth paper in his palm. Idly, he looked down and noticed that it was a hand drawn map. Still, he was pretty numb from what Mizuki was saying. He'd expected this was some kind of prank, but this was much more serious. It was treason! _I have to warn Gramps. I need to get away before Mizuki notices anything off._

Naruto slipped the piece of paper into his pocket, and gave Mizuki a confident smirk. Though it sure didn't feel confident. "That shouldn't be a problem Sensei."

"Excellent, I knew you'd be up for this." Mizuki said. He gave Naruto one last pat on the shoulder, and then leapt onto the nearest roof top. Within instants he was out of sight and jumping over the village, while Naruto was left with his shock. He stood there for a moment, caught up in the gravity of what had just happened. Mizuki was after the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing. Worse, he was trying to get _him_ to get it for him. Immediately, his mind flashed to his grandfather figure, the Hokage.

 _Gramps needs to hear about this. We have to do something!_

Without a backward glance, Naruto turned around and began to walk in the direction he had just came from at a swift pace. He had to get back to the Hokage tower, but he couldn't make it look suspicious in case Mizuki was still following him. He couldn't feel his chakra, but it couldn't hurt to be careful.

 **— ₪ NTUC ₪ —**

Fifteen minutes later, Naruto was sitting in front of a very grim-faced Hokage, who—much to his annoyance—was smoking on his pipe. The burning scent filled the air and irritated Naruto's nostrils. He hated tobacco.

"Do you really have to smoke that right now?" The Hokage made no move to put out his pipe, much to Naruto's chagrin. As soon as he had arrived, he'd begun his story, and he was almost finished. The Hokage's face had gotten grimmer as the explanation went on. He'd lit up his pipe midway through the explanation of the exam and what followed, and he hadn't stopped smoking it since.

"It relaxes me and helps me to think. Considering I've just been told that one of my academy instructors is most likely a traitor, I'd say it's warranted." Hiruzen said wryly. "Now, continue." Naruto shook his head in annoyance, but finished his story none the less.

"Anyways, like I said. After he stopped me, he said that the instructors had talked about me, and then told me about the test to steal the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing, and learn a jutsu from it. When he told me, I was so shocked I almost gave away that I knew what he was doing." Naruto explained. "Taking advantage of an academy student who doesn't know better, it's a rather clever plan if you pick the right person for a patsy." He didn't like Mizuki, but he gave credit where it was due. All he'd done was make a mistake in who he chose.

The Hokage paused in his smoking, and scrunched his eyes in contemplation. "I must admit; it's not completely surprising that Mizuki is a traitor. There have always been . . . _questions_ , certain inconsistencies, in some of his reports," He said in agreement. He looked at Naruto with a shrewd gaze. "That being said, we have a dilemma. Despite the fact that I have no doubt you are telling the truth, I can't just arrest Mizuki on the word of a genin who has only just barely graduated the academy."

Naruto slumped in his seat. He _knew_ it wouldn't be as easy as he had hoped. He looked at his second grandfather with a raised eyebrow, and asked, "So what should we do?"

He was well aware of how shrewd the old monkey could be, and was certain he would come up with a viable plan in that wrinkly old head.

The Hokage stroked his chin in thought for a moment. "Hmm, we'll need to catch him in the act. If I were to even see him confessing through my crystal ball, it would be enough to be able to arrest him." He explained. "Of course, to do so, we'd probably have to make him think everything was going according to plan. That would mean you would have to meet him at the location he provided, at the very least. I know you're strong enough to handle things if something goes wrong, but do you think you'll be up to the task? It _would_ involve making people believe you'd actually stolen the scroll."

In spite of the serious situation, Naruto smirked confidently. "Are you joking? Of course I am!" He replied. "Besides, I've been looking for some experience on real missions."

Hiruzen chuckled. "Very well then. I'll make this official. Genin Naruto Uzumaki, I'm charging you with the mission of capturing the traitor Mizuki and getting him to confess to his plans to steal the Forbidden Scroll of Seals. You have five minutes before I'll announce the scrolls theft."

Naruto straightened up at the Hokage's serious tone, and offered him a quick salute as he stood up. "Understood. I'll go prepare."

Luckily, his hidden home was in-between the Hokage Tower and the place Mizuki picked out. He'd have plenty of time to create a fake scroll and grab his sword, Senbonzakura. Without another word, he disappeared in a whisper of wind. He had a mission to complete.

 **— ₪ NTUC ₪ —**

Silvery beams of moonlight filtered through the treetops, bathing Naruto in their ethereal light. He was sitting cross-legged in front of a decrepit old shack, waiting for his target to arrive. The sound of crickets chirping filled the woods, especially around the small clearing he was in. His chakra sensing abilities were stretched out to about twenty yards beyond the edge of the small clearing, to warn him if Mizuki were to arrive.

 _I'm getting a little tired of waiting. This is way more boring than I imagined._ After he had left the Hokage Tower, it had only taken him a minute to get home. As soon as he had retrieved Senbonzakura and made a convincing copy of the scroll—it wasn't much, just a large scroll made to look good on the outside—he'd immediately made his way to the waiting place.

He'd been waiting there since.

 ** _Tch, it hasn't been_** **that _long. You're just impatient._** Kurama snorted.

 _Shut up you! Figures you'd wake up now._ Although he'd never admit it, Kurama had a point. Not only was he eager to get this over with so he could get home, but he was hoping to get a chance to test out Senbonzakura in live combat.

 ** _Cheer up. Look at the bright side, at least you might get to kill Mizuki!_**

The Uchiha boy sweat-dropped at his tenant and friend's bloodthirsty nature.

 _I don't think that's the point of the mission. I'm kind of supposed to get a confession out of him, and even then, they'll want to question him at the Torture and Interrogation unit._ Naruto replied.

Even though he couldn't see him, he was almost sure he could feel Kurama pouting. **_Still, that doesn't mean we ca—_**

 _Shut up!'_ He hissed, cutting off the mighty tailed beast. For a second Kurama seemed to be stunned into silence, and then he growled.

 ** _Don't you tell me to shut up you jumped up, hairless, Neolithic, mon—_** Once again Kurama got cut off.

 _No, I mean be quiet, I need to focus. Someone just crossed into my sensing range._ Explained Naruto. The recently graduated genin swiftly stood, focusing intently on the signature he was sensing. His brow was knitted in confusion. It didn't _feel_ like Mizuki's. _You sense anything?_ He asked his partner.

 ** _Not really. Whoever it is, there's worry and fear, but that's it._** The fox replied. Naruto screwed his eyes together in concentration. That didn't _sound_ like what Mizuki would be feeling.

"Iruka-sensei, what are you doing here?" He asked in surprise.

"What am I doing here? Looking for your dumb ass, what the hell were you thinking taking that scroll!" Iruka replied.

Naruto felt like cursing. Somehow Iruka had managed to find him. The alarm had been raised so that Mizuki wouldn't suspect a trap. Somehow Iruka had managed to find him before he could spring it. _Dammit, this isn't good . . . I don't have time to deal with him._ He looked at Iruka with dead seriousness, surprising the chunin. "Listen, I don't have time to explain, you've got to—"

Naruto stopped abruptly as he sensed another signature approaching them. This time it was definitely Mizuki, and he wasn't there to talk. All he could do was give Iruka a quick warning.

"Lookout!" No sooner had the word left his mouth, then a swarm of kunai and shuriken were launched from the canopy, the sharp metal killing tools whizzing through the air straight for Iruka. The startled instructor managed to dodge or deflect a few as he jumped backwards, but he couldn't dodge them all. With the— _thunk_ —of metal impacting wood, and the dull wet— _thump_ —of pierced flesh, Iruka was pinned to the wall of the shack.

All of Iruka's arms and legs were either pierced by kunai and shuriken, or pinned to the wood by his clothes. There were a few particularly nasty ones in his thighs, though nothing life threatening. Naruto glared at the perpetrator. Mizuki smirked down at them from his perch where he stood atop one of the many enormous branches of the trees filling the forests. He was wearing his bandana-style forehead protector, and had two massive shuriken strapped to his back.

"I see you've got the scroll Naruto, congratulations, I assume you've learned a jutsu too. Now give me the scroll, and you can show it to me so you can pass." Mizuki called down.

Naruto could practically feel the confusion pouring off of Iruka, but he had to ignore it. Instead he focused his full attention on Mizuki. Thankfully, he'd provided an opening by attacking Iruka.

"Hold on a sec, why'd you attack Iruka-sensei? I thought you said all the instructors knew about this test to steal the scroll." Asked Naruto. He pointed an accusatory finger at him for good measure.

Call him what you will, but Mizuki was sure slick. He didn't even hesitate in answering the question. "I attacked him because he didn't want you to pass. Iruka has secretly hated you all these years, and he thought this would be a good opportunity to get you in trouble by making it look like you really stole the scroll. He was going to attack you, knock you out and take the scroll. I just stopped him." Mizuki explained.

From behind him, Naruto heard Iruka gasp in shock. Clearly, the pieces were beginning to sink into place for him. "What the hell are you talking about, Mizuki?" He snarled, giving his friend a venomous glare. Iruka turned to Naruto, and fixed him with a pleading gaze. "Naruto, don't listen to Mizuki. He's lying, there is no test. He's trying to get you to steal the forbidden scroll, so he can have it for himself. You have to trust me, I've never hated you, I'm just looking out for you. Take the scroll, and run for help!"

Outwardly, Naruto tried not to show any reaction, but inwardly he was very touched at Iruka's words.

From up above, Mizuki gave a derisive snort. "You're just looking out for him? Don't make me laugh. Admit it, Iruka. You've always hated Naruto's guts." He said scathingly. Mizuki then fixed his gaze on Naruto, and he could see a certain malicious gleam in his eyes. "Do you want to know _why_ Iruka hates you? It has to do with a decree that was made thirteen years ago, by the Hokage. A decree everyone knows about but you. Your entire life, they've been whispering behind your back, lying to you, hating you. All because of that decree. Because it says that—"

Before Mizuki could finish, Iruka interrupted him. "NO MIZUKI! IT'S FORBIDDEN!" He shouted. But Mizuki wasn't going to stop, he was too fixated on Naruto.

Naruto had heard enough though. He was pretty sure he had enough to warrant arresting Mizuki, and he wanted to end this charade. He cut across both men, his words ringing out loudly in the nearly empty clearing. "It's fine, Iruka-sensei. Mizuki was just going to tell me that I'm the jinchuriki to the Nine-Tails, and that nobody is supposed to tell me that." He said. The shock was evident to see on both men's faces. It might've been funny if it weren't for the circumstances. "Well, isn't that what you were going to say?" He asked Mizuki tauntingly.

He heard the silver-haired man growl lowly, and saw him clench his fist. "So, you know already. I was expecting you were still in the dark. Oh well, that doesn't matter, give me the scroll already." Mizuki held out his hand expectantly.

"Naruto, I'm sorry for lying to you all this time, but you need to take the scroll and run." Iruka interjected, his voice a whisper. Naruto smiled lightly, and gave Iruka what he hoped was a reassuring look.

"Don't worry, I don't blame you." He said. Then he looked at Mizuki, and held up the scroll. "As for this, he can have it."

Without a care, he tossed the scroll up into the canopy to Mizuki. He ignored Mizuki's cackle of glee. As soon as he saw what Naruto did, Iruka looked at him as if he was crazy. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING?"

Naruto gave his teacher a smirk.

"What, it's not like it matters, that scroll is blank." That stunned both men into silence.

"WHAT!" Mizuki shouted in rage. Feverishly, he tore the scroll open. The look of horror and rage on his face was priceless. For a moment, the man could only gape at the blank scroll, but then he fixed a thunderous glare on Naruto. "What the hell is this?"

"I'm sorry to inform you, but the Nine-Tails isn't the only thing I knew about that you didn't expect. I knew what you were trying to pull the second you mentioned your little test. My job was to get you to make a confession, and apprehend you. Luckily for me, you solved that problem when you attacked Iruka here. That's all the cause I need to bring you in." He informed the man. "So, to make this official. Chunin Mizuki, I'm placing you under arrest."

If looks could kill, Naruto would've died ten times over from the one Mizuki gave him. The traitorous chunin's eyes bulged and he clenched his fists so hard that the knuckles turned white. He let out an insane laugh. "Ha, you arrest _me_? Don't act so high and mighty with me, you filthy demon!

Without any warning, he whipped his arm forward and released one of his giant shuriken at them. The giant metal throwing star hurtled through the air with a faint whistle.

"Lookout Naruto!" Iruka hissed as he tried to pull himself away from the wall.

Naruto ignored his teacher, and instead gave him a reassuring look. "Don't worry, I've got this."

Even though he didn't have his Sharingan active, his training allowed him to follow the shuriken easily. Naruto remembered his grandfather's training, and began to control his breathing. He gripped his swords hilt tightly as the metal star approached them. _Watch the trajectory. Release the blade in one smooth motion, at the last second possible._

Although it was only seconds, to Naruto it may as well have been an eternity for the shuriken to reach him. At the last instant, he whipped out his katana, and aimed it for the shuriken. At the same time, he channeled wind chakra into his sword. It met the star with a light ring, and a shower of sparks. The sword cleaved through the hard-forged metal as if it was butter. The two halves veered to either side, and impacted the ground with a soft— _Thunk_. Naruto took great satisfaction in the stunned looks on both the adults faces.

Mizuki's shock only lasted an instant. He shrugged it off, and reached for his second shuriken with an even more intense look. "So you managed to block it. Big deal. You might have a nice sword, but this next one will hit for sure, _demon fox_!"

Once again his grandfather's training set in, and he blocked off all emotions. "I'll give you only one chance Mizuki. If you refuse, I will show you the _true_ power of my Senbonzakura."

His warning went unheeded, though. Mizuki whipped his other arm forward, and threw the second shuriken. This time, Naruto didn't even bother to cut the shuriken in two. He simply batted it to the side with his sword. It caused his sword to vibrate in his hand, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. Naruto looked at the stunned Mizuki coldly.

That look only seemed to enrage him even more. "How dare you look at me like that! I'll show you! I'll kill you and your precious sensei!"

By now, Mizuki was beginning to look well and truly insane. He reached into his equipment pouch, and whipped out two handfuls of shuriken. Mizuki flung his arms forwards and released the small metal instruments of death. A malicious smirk stretched his face as he began to run through hand seals.

"You're through! I learned this jutsu from my master, there's no way you can dodge!" Mizuki cackled in glee.

Naruto was shocked when he saw the seals Mizuki was using. _He can't possibly know the—_

" **Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!** " Mizuki cried. Instantly the eight shuriken multiplied themselves into dozens of metal streaks intent on carving into flesh.

The shuriken were on them in seconds, and Naruto was only _just_ able to get his left hand up in time. He put all his concentration and will into summoning forth all his control over magnetic forces that his bloodline afforded him. For a split second, it seemed as if he wouldn't make it; but at the last second, he felt his power pulse outwards in a massive invisible wave. It was only a split second, but it seemed like an eternity. The magnetic forces he unleashed caught hold of the wall of shuriken, stopping all of them in their tracks. It was a good thing that they stopped when they did, because the one closest to him was mere inches from his face.

A drop sweat dripped down Naruto's brow from the strain of controlling the magnetic forces. Even for him it wasn't easy. Controlling magnetic forces always gave him a strange sensation, as if his very bones were vibrating.

Naruto took a few seconds to make absolutely sure he had control over the shuriken. The trick was making sure he saturated the metal with his chakra. Once he was sure he had complete control, he sent them hurtling to the side and down with a casual flick of his wrist. The mass of black metal impacted the ground with a round of dull— _thunks._

"Wha-what the hell. What's going on?" Mizuki asked in shock. Naruto stood in front of his teacher—his breathe coming out mildly hard—and looked at Mizuki calculatingly.

"That? That is my control over magnetic forces." He answered simply. "I must give credit where it's due, you surprised me with those skills. None the less, I gave you one chance, and you have wasted it."

Mizuki opened his mouth to make a snide retort, but instead he let loose a startled gasp as a bruising kick slammed into his back, sending him hurtling from his perch to the hard ground of the clearing below. His body hit the ground with a dull— _thump_. All the wind was knocked from his lungs in a harsh— _whoosh_ —and he was left gasping to try to regain it. He struggled weakly, clawing and scratching his way to stand weakly on his feet, his back supported by the tree behind him.

Up on the branch where Mizuki had stood previously, two clones of Naruto stood looking down on him.

"I'm growing tired of this, so I'll end it quickly." Naruto held his sword in front of his face. The tip pointed to the sky, and the flat of the blade faced towards him. A haze of visible chakra began to whip about his person, kicking up dust around his feet.

Glowing white seals emerged along the length of his blade. Black specs of iron sand spilled out of the seals in drifting moat, and seemingly disappeared into thin air. When all was said and done, the seals faded, and Naruto's beautiful katana was left unchanged. For all intents and purposed, it appeared as if the iron sand had disappeared completely. But Naruto knew better. He could feel the specs of sand, saturated with his blood and chakra floating in the air. Silently, he willed them to form into invisible razors.

Both Iruka and Mizuki blinked in shock. Mizuki, who had looked fearful at the aura that had built up around Naruto, began to laugh derisively. "What, was that it?" Mizuki asked derisively. "Your big bad finish is to make some pretty dust? How pathetic can you— _gurk_ —"

Blood. Blood was everywhere. In a disturbingly beautiful display, white petals danced around Mizuki. Numerous cuts tore open all across his body, sending his crimson blood spurting into the air. Mizuki slumped to the ground in a heap, gasping from the pain of his wounds.

Naruto glanced at his clones in the tree. "Patch him up, then take him to the Torture and Interrogation headquarters. They'll be expecting him." He ordered. Immediately, the clones leapt down and began to carry out his orders. Once his clones had left with Mizuki, Naruto let out a sigh of relief. That was finally over with. He reformed the blade of Senbonzakura, and sheathed it once more with a soft— _shink_.

For a moment he stood in silence, enjoying the night air. _Well, as expected, that was rather easy._ A pained gasp from behind him reminded him of the fact that he wasn't alone.

He turned to see Iruka leaning against the shed. The tanned chunin was pulling the kunai and shuriken out of his body, and dropping them on the ground.

"Are your wounds okay, Iruka-sensei?" He asked with concern.

Iruka blinked at him owlishly. He still seemed in shock over what had happened.

"Yeah, I just need to get them checked out." Iruka assured him. Naruto smiled slightly.

"Good, I'll have a clone take you to the hospital. I have to go report to Lord Hokage about my mission success." Naruto said, a clone appearing beside him. Iruka nodded, and smiled gratefully as the clone helped him stand up.

"Thanks. I guess I'll see you in a few days at the team assignments. And Naruto—" Naruto quirked an eyebrow when the academy instructor smirked at him. "—Good job beating Mizuki. You're way stronger than you let on."

Naruto chuckled, and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Thanks, sensei."

After his clone left with Iruka, Naruto stood in the clearing in silence. Slowly, he let the adrenaline fade. Eventually, he looked to the sky with a weary sigh. "Well, I guess I better go get the report to Gramps out of the way."

The day had been rather eventful, and he was eager to be done with it. Tomorrow he would need to go and complete his ninja registration, but for now he just wanted to get home and go to sleep. A full night's rest and he'd be good as new.

With one last glance around the moonlit clearing, Naruto vanished in flicker of speed.

 **— ₪ NTUC ₪ —**

 **AN/ Yo, so there's the fourth chapter. It's about the same length as the previous version, but as you can tell I removed the whole part about Naruto transforming and revealing he's not an idiot, since in this version he never pretended to be in the first place.**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Next time will be the formation of Team 7, and the bell test. How will Naruto and his team pull together and pass the test?**

 **Find out in the next chapter**

 **Chapter 5: Team Placements, a Test of Cooperation!**

 **Well, I don't really have much else to say.**

 **So, til next time, RinneTaicho, Signing off!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Naruto: The Uchiha Chronicles**

 **AN/ Hey, so back for another chapter of NTUC, and we continue with the formation of Team 7.**

 **So there were some comments I got in concern about Naruto not embracing his Uzumaki heritage as well. To be honest, I don't have very many plans for that. This story is about his Uchiha side, and while he will be delving into the skills and not outright ignoring his heritage on his mother's side, it's not a huge focus for him right now.**

 **Well, without further ado, on with the chapter!**

Normal speech: "what"

Extremely loud group/single person shouting: "WHAT!"

Thoughts/Speech taken out of context: _'what'_

Letter/Book/Written text: ' _What'_

Demon/Summon speech: **"what"**

Demon/Summon thoughts: **_'what_**

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or Bleach, that honor belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and Tite Kubo respectively.

 **Arc II: Formation of Team 7:**

 **Chapter 5: Team Placements, A Mysterious New Teacher!**

 **— ₪** **NTUC ₪ —**

The next morning, Naruto found himself sitting in front of the Hokage once again. This time, thankfully, it was much more pleasant than when he had been there the night before to tell him about Mizuki's attempt to get him to steal the Forbidden Scroll. Instead the Hokage was reviewing Naruto's ninja registration. They chatted idly while he made sure everything was filled out right

"Hmm, everything seems in order." Hiruzen said as he set the registration form down.

"Well, that was pretty easy." Naruto answered with a smile. Really, the form wasn't anything special. Just the basic information like height and weight, and any important characteristics for potential clients to know. "I was debating whether to use my mother's name or not. In the end I figured its lasted me this long, it couldn't hurt to keep it for a little longer."

Hiruzen hummed in agreement, although Naruto could see a slight hesitance in his eyes.

"What, is something wrong?" He asked.

Hiruzen shook his head, though, although Naruto could tell there was something he wanted to say.

"No, it's nothing too serious," Hiruzen assured him. There was a bit of concern in the Hokage's eyes nonetheless. "But tell me, it's only been six months since your grandfather died, and now you're becoming a shinobi. That's a lot of change for a short period of time. How are you coping with his loss?"

Involuntarily, Naruto felt a lump forming in his throat. He had tried to avoid thinking about his grandfather's death. He swallowed it down with a bit of difficulty. While he wasn't exactly devastated anymore, the wound was still raw. "I'm coping well enough. Sometimes I miss him more than others, but for the most part I'm doing ok. In a way I feel lucky to have known him at all. For all the pain that having him for such a short time has caused, I prefer that to not having known him at all. Besides, at least I can take comfort in knowing that very soon I can start restoring the honor of my clan." Said Naruto.

He smiled softly, remembering his grandfather, and all he had done for him.

Hiruzen looked relieved. He let a small smile work its way back onto his face. "Good, good. Just remember, you can come tell me if you're ever having any problems. Sometimes I worry that you push yourself too far with the training and trying to live up to your grandfather's name." He said. After a moments pause, he said, "I just don't want you to forget to have fun and make friends. Don't take things too seriously."

"Please, I have you, Sasuki, old man Ichiraku and Ayame. Not to mention Choji and Shikamaru. I've got all the family and friends I need." Naruto protested light-heartedly.

The Hokage chuckled lightly. His chuckles died off slowly, and he looked at Naruto with a fond gaze. "I suppose that's true. Besides, that serious attitude and your hard work ethic and drive is what will make you a great leader one day. Just don't forget to make friends along the way."

Naruto shifted a little uncomfortably under the praise, and he felt his face heat up a bit. One of his biggest goals was to be Hokage. To have Gramps, the current and possibly greatest Hokage, praise him was . . . nice. In his shifting he glanced out the window. His eyes widened slightly when he noticed the suns position in the sky. It was almost midday. He turned to the Hokage with an apologetic look.

"Anyways, it was nice talking with you, but I better get going. I want to try to get that new jutsu I'm working on ready for combat before team assignments." Said Naruto. The two stood up, and bid each other goodbye, with Naruto promising to come see Sarutobi soon.

On his way out, Naruto bumped into small boy who couldn't have been more than eight. It turned out, he was the Hokage's grandson, Konohamaru. He seemed a bit uppity to Naruto. The look on the kids face when he said he didn't care who he was had been priceless.

Despite the boy's insistence that Naruto apologize, he had simply ignored the kid, and continued on his way.

 **— ₪** **NTUC ₪ —**

The next morning, Naruto arrived at the classroom surprisingly late. There were only fifteen minutes left before the orientation began. _That's what I get for staying up late to train._

Yesterday, Naruto had taken a break in his training to go to his favorite sushi place, the Kintako Lounge. When he left, he'd caught the Hokage's grandson tailing him, and the boy had begged him to train him. Naruto resisted at first, but in the end he caved and shown the boy a thing or to. By the time they were finished, it was already evening, but Naruto had tried to get back to perfecting his jutsu anyways. Not only did he not get it done, but by the time he got to bed he was so exhausted that he slept through the first three alarms he had set. So here he was, fifteen minutes away from being late to his orientation.

Naruto quickly caught his bearings, and looked around the classroom. Most of those who'd graduated had already arrived, and an almost palpable feeling of excitement was in the air. Some showed their excitement by trying to act as if it was just a normal day, chatting animatedly with their friends. Others had massive grins on their faces, while several groups of girls were gathered in circles, giggling madly. He could even see Shikamaru with his head on his arms in a row in the middle of the room, unbelievably asleep despite all the noise. Naruto couldn't help but shake his head. His lazy friend would never change. But that wasn't the friend he was looking for, so he searched through the crowd, looking for a familiar glimpse of blue-tinted ebony hair.

Finally, his eyes alighted upon a row halfway up the aisle, where Sasuki sat by one of the large windows on the right side of the room. Nobody was sitting next to her; they'd probably been scared off by her usual cold glare.

He made his way up the steps, idly returning the greeting of a couple classmates along the way. "Good morning, Sasuki." He said as he stepped into the row.

Sasuki glanced up at him. "Hn, Good morning, I guess." She greeted back

Naruto smiled as he slid into the seat next to her. As he did, Sasuki took notice of Senbonzakura sheathed at his waist. "That's a nice sword, I didn't even know you had one." She said it as a statement, but he could hear the question in her voice.

"Well, they don't exactly let academy students walk around with real swords." Naruto said. "Besides," He gave her a smug smirk he knew would get under her skin. "I _am_ a ninja. You didn't think I showed you _everything_ I know, did you?"

"Hn, whatever." She replied. Sasuki leaned her head against her hand and looked at him calculatingly. "So, speaking of what you know. Did you get that jutsu you were working on down?"

Naruto nearly groaned in annoyance, though he stopped himself short. She just had to ask about the jutsu. "No, I didn't. Something came up after we left the academy on the day of the exam. I never got the chance to work on it that day, and then yesterday I got stuck babysitting Gramps' grandson. I stayed up late trying to get it down, but it didn't happen." He explained.

"So that's why you were almost late. I was wondering about that, since you're always early." Naruto detected a slight hint of satisfaction on Sasuki's face as she said that.

Although he dreaded the answer, since it meant she would probably hold it over his head for a while, Naruto asked, "What about you, did you finish the jutsu _you_ were working on?"

Even before she said anything, he knew the answer, just from the way she stopped bothering to hide her look of smug satisfaction. "Yeah, I did. I wouldn't say it's perfect, but I could definitely use it in a fight."

Naruto sighed in resignation. "I guess you win this one." He conceded. He hated losing.

Although the slight hint of real happiness he could see in Sasuki's eyes (hidden behind all that smugness of course), made him feel slightly better. At least his best friend was happy. For a few minutes, they just sat in a comfortable silence as their fellow graduates talked around them.

Of course, the happy moment couldn't last forever. It was broken by a loud and obnoxious voice that both were familiar with. "Hey Sasuki, I see you're here already."

At the front of the classroom, a wild-looking boy was looking up at them. His features were pretty animalistic, with slit eyes, and red fang markings on his cheeks. He had on a grey jacket with the hood up, and fur lining the edges. Perched on top of his head was a small puppy with white fur, except for its black ears.

The boy's name was Kiba Inuzuka, the youngest heir to the Inuzuka Clan, and the dog was his nin-dog and partner, Akamaru. Kiba walked up the stairs with a confident stride, and took a seat in the row in front of them, turned around backwards. Kiba gave Naruto a brief look of contempt.

"Uzumaki." He greeted tersely. Naruto only offered him a small nod, his face set in a stoic mask.

He and Kiba didn't really get along. They had started out as friends when they first began the academy That started to change as Naruto started to consistently beat Kiba in everything. Kiba liked to think of himself as top dog, and he couldn't stand the fact that he never beat Naruto. It was only when Kiba–like most boys in their class–started to have a crush on Sasuki in their second year, that things really changed. By then Naruto and Sasuki were best friends, and the combination of seeing Naruto always spending time with her, and him always beating Kiba, had caused Kiba to become bitter towards him, and basically make it his mission to prove he was better.

As soon as Kiba had greeted Naruto, he turned back to Sasuki, and gave her a confident grin. "So, after the orientation, you wanna go get lunch? My treat." He asked.

"No thanks . . ." Sasuki replied with an impassive expression. Although he looked disappointed for a moment, Kiba recovered quickly. Of all Sasuki's admirers, he was the most resilient. Despite receiving rejection after rejection, he never stopped asking her out.

"Oh well, maybe some other time," Kiba said with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders. To Naruto's relief he decided to turn around, and begin to converse with Akamaru. _Thank god for small miracles._

Naruto spent the rest of the short time remaining in silence, with the small exception of when Ino and Sakura took seats behind them and engaged Naruto in a conversation about his sword.

Ino was the heiress of the Yamanaka clan, a slender girl with long, platinum blonde hair in a ponytail, and light blue eyes. She was considered by many as one of the prettiest girls in their class, something that was only accentuated by the short purple top and long skirt she wore, which was slit on the sides. Of course, the white bandages she wore around her stomach and upper legs kept it from being obscene, but it was still enough to draw the eyes of most boys.

Her friend, Sakura Haruno. was perhaps even more slender than Ino, if that was possible. Out of all the girls in their class, she was the least *ahem* 'developed'. Her most distinguishing physical features were her wide forehead–something she had been teased about when they were younger–and her long pink hair, the same color as the flower blossom that was her namesake. She dressed more modestly, with a red qipao dress that had slits on the sides, and tight-fitting shorts that went to the top of her knees.

"Hey, that sword looks pretty cool, Naruto." Ino commented as she leaned forward from behind. Her long blond hair dangled over the front of the desk.

Naruto had to crane his neck around to speak to her, and he was slightly distracted by the sight of her leaning over. Not even _he_ was immune to the looks of a pretty girl, even though he hated to admit it.

Beside her, Sakura, who was the more intellectual of the two, leaned forward as well. "Yeah, it does look pretty well made, even sheathed. Where'd you get it?" She asked curiously.

Naruto wasn't too surprised she was able to recognize the quality of his sword. While both girls were smart, Sakura was by for the more academic. She excelled at studying and retaining knowledge, though she was rather lacking in the physical department. Ino, on the other hand, was a lot bubblier and more outgoing than Sakura. She'd been the one to break her out of her shell.

"Thanks, I'm glad you two appreciate it. This sword was a gift from someone very close to me." He told them. Sakura smiled gently.

"Well, like I said, it's very nice." She said. Beside her, Ino gave him a slightly more flirtatious smile, with her eyes fixed on his face.

"It does look pretty nice. Ya know, I wouldn't mind getting to see more." She said. For some reason, the way she said it made it seem like she wasn't talking about Senbonzakura. In spite of his training, Naruto felt his face heat up slightly, and he abruptly turned forward to stare at the blackboard, drawing an amused giggle from Ino.

Beside him, Sasuki scoffed. He heard her mutter something that sounded strangely like 'idiot'.

A few minutes later, Iruka poked his head through the door, and greeted them. "Hello. Is everyone ready to begin?" He asked. Everyone nodded, some voicing their agreement.

As he walked to the podium, Naruto saw that Iruka was looking a lot better than the last time he'd seen him. There wasn't any sign of his injuries. At one point, Iruka caught his eye, and mouthed the words "Thank you." Naruto nodded slightly in return.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sasuki give him a weird look.

"What" He asked.

She stared at him blankly. "Nothing . . ."

Once at the podium, Iruka cleared his throat to grab their attention.

"Well, before I begin, does anyone have any questions?" One boy at the front of the class, wearing a long-sleeved green shirt, rose his hand. "Yes, Hideo?" Iruka asked the boy, as he put his hand down.

"Yeah, where's Mizuki-sensei? Shouldn't he be here." He asked.

Iruka's expression, which had been bright and cheerful, quickly became sober and serious. "I'm afraid that two nights ago, it was revealed that Mizuki was a traitor. He was captured, and is now being questioned by the Torture & Interrogation Department. Needless to say, he will now longer be an instructor at this academy."

Several people gasped at once, and the room was filled with restless muttering. The idea that an instructor that they had trusted for years was a traitor, was obviously shocking for many people. Naruto could even hear a few that seemed to think it must be a mistake. In the chaos, Sasuki nudged his arm to get his attention. "Two nights ago, this wouldn't happen to have anything to do with that 'little thing' that came up and prevented you from training, would it?" She asked, her eyebrow raised.

Naruto quickly looked around to make sure no one had heard her. He was relieved to see that even Kiba, with his sharp ears, was too immersed in his own shock. He leaned in close, and hissed, "Yes, but not here, I'll tell you all about it later." He promised

Sasuki seemed satisfied with his answer, and nodded in assent.

Eventually, Iruka let loose a loud whistle, and drew the attention of the class once more.

"I realize this is quite shocking, but I can't tell you anymore about the matter, it's been deemed classified. Now, if that's all the questions, let's get back to the reason we're here. Today is about you, and you shouldn't allow this situation disturb that." He said. Once he was sure all the attention was back on him, Iruka cleared his throat, and began his prepared lecture; "Alright, since everyone's here, we can begin. First of all, I want to congratulate you all on becoming ninja. You've all trained very hard, and now you're finally ready to begin duty.

"But your journey has only just begun. Because you're only starting out as ninja, you'll each be placed into squads of three. Each squad will be led by a Jonin; elite ninja with advanced skills. They will help you mature into the fine ninja I know you all can be." Iruka smiled proudly at them all. Many of the students began to murmur about this. It was the first the instructors had mentioned squads, and only a few of them knew about it before hand, Naruto being one of them.

He saw Sasuki giving him an annoyed look. "Did you know about this?" She mouthed. Naruto shrugged.

"Yes." He mouthed back. She gave him a light scowl.

"We better end up on the same team, and the other person better not slow us down, or I'm going to kick your ass for not telling me." She finished, without bothering to mouth the words this time.

 _Hopefully she isn't too serious about that._ Although he knew that she was mostly joking about kicking his ass, Naruto couldn't help but wonder if she really believed a team would weigh her down. He'd like to think that he had had more of an impact on her. _It doesn't matter._ Naruto shook his head. _No matter what, I won't let that hatred consume her. Hopefully this team can help her open up to others more._

Iruka waited for the murmuring to die down, before he began to list the teams.

"I will now call out your teams." Iruka held up a clipboard. He began to rattle off names, ignoring the reactions of the genin. Some complained about not being on teams with someone they wanted to be on, others were ecstatic to be with a certain friend. Naruto ignored it for the large part, waiting impatiently for his team to be announced. Finally, Iruka got to Team 7, and he heard his name.

"Next up is Team 7, under Kakashi Hatake. Team 7 will be, Naruto Uzumaki—," Naruto smirked slightly. "—Sasuki Uchiha—," Sasuki, not one to show emotion, turned away with a huff of annoyance. "—and Sakura Haruno."

Naruto half expected Kiba to get upset over the decision, but surprisingly he stayed quiet.

Iruka quickly began naming the last few teams. It was pretty clear he was eager to get them done; this probably was his least favorite part of being an academy instructor, what with various people complaining about their teams.

"Team 8, under Kurenai Yuhi, will be Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyuuga, and Shino Aburame." Naruto silently nodded at that one. They all had tracking skills, and each brought something unique to the table. Kiba, a potential heavy assault member; Hinata, who brought her clan's deadly taijutsu, and possible future medical skills to the table; and last but not least, Shino. Naruto respected the quiet bug user more than most. Behind that high-collared coat and small sunglasses was a sharp and skilled mind, he would be perfect for laying out plans for the team.

Team 9 turned out to be some of the lesser known students, few—if any—of which Naruto suspected would make it past the second test. The final team, Team 10, was fairly obvious even before Iruka announced it; Not just because they were the only three left.

"Finally, Team 10, under Asuma Sarutobi; Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi." Iruka finished. He set down his clipboard, and addressed them as a group once more. "You'll now have two hours for lunch, after that your Jonin Sensei's will come pick you up. One last time, I'd like to say how proud I am of all of you."

With that, Iruka excused himself. After he left, several students began filtering out to go get lunch. Naruto looked over at Sasuki, and caught her eye. "So, you want to go get lunch? Maybe Ichiraku's?" He asked.

"I guess. You can explain this whole team thing to me, and why you never mentioned it." She said.

Naruto nodded in agreement to her condition. "Fair enough,"

Together they stood up, and began to make their way out of the classroom. They'd just reached the door of the classroom, when Sakura came running up behind them. "Hey, guys." She called to get their attention. "Um, do you mind if I join you, since, you know, we're a team and all?" Sakura asked nervously.

Naruto shrugged. "I don't mind," He said. He then turned to Sasuki and raised an eyebrow in question. "What about you?"

Sasuki huffed, and looked away. "Whatever . . ." She said dismissively, and began walking away.

"Well, I guess that settles it." Naruto said with a cheerful smile. He saw Sakura's dejected look at Sasuki's reaction, and patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry, she won't bite. You've just got to get her to warm up to you is all. Now come on, we're going to this ramen stand I like. You'll love it," He said.

Sakura nodded shyly, and followed him out of the room. They caught up to Sasuki further down the hall, who only gave them a glance to acknowledge their presence. To anyone that would have seen them, Naruto was sure they would've found them as an odd group. The girl that was cold to everyone, the boy that did well in everything and was usually agreeable, but the adults seemed to hate, and one of the most cheerful girls in the academy, who most thought was a bookworm. _We certainly are an odd group._

They made it all the way to the court yard, before Kurama growled inside his mind. It was the first time he'd spoken that day. **_Grrr, I smell mutt. You better watch yourself_**.

No sooner had he given his warning, then Kiba's obnoxious voice rang out from behind them.

"Hey, Uzumaki!" He yelled. Naruto sighed in annoyance. Reluctantly, he turned around to face him.

Kiba was flanked on both sides by his teammates, neither of which seemed like they really wanted a part of this. Shino was his usually silent self, he just stood in the background without saying anything, his signature large overcoat and sunglasses in place. Naruto idly noted that with that silent demeanor, and his size which matched his own, Shino would likely make a good bodyguard. On Kiba's right, Hinata Hyuuga stood nervously poking her fingers together. Hinata was a shy girl, with her hair purple-tinted hair cut short in a hime-style cut, and she had a tendency to wear a baggy hooded sweatshirt.

"Yes, Kiba, what is it you want?" Naruto asked impatiently. He fixed Kiba with one of his most stoic stares; something he had learned from his grandfather to intimidate people.

Although it didn't seem Kiba was affected, his dog, Akamaru, gave a whimper. Naruto had learned that the little dog was much better at sensing chakra than his partner, and he could obviously sense the difference in their reserves. Although Kiba was no slouch; he was nowhere near Naruto's level of reserves.

Heedless of his partner's apprehension, Kiba stepped forward boldly. "I just wanted to let you know that you might've been the best in the Academy, but now we're ninja, and that doesn't mean anything. I _will_ prove I'm the best." He declared.

"Is that all?" Naruto asked, unimpressed by Kiba's bravado. Even _if_ he had a slight point about the academy not meaning much in the long view.

Kiba growled, and made to step forward as if he wanted to fight, but Hinata spoke up in a quiet stutter. "U-um, I don't think we should s-start a fight right now, K-Kiba. Sh-shouldn't we go g-get lunch so we c-can meet our s-sensei on time?"

". . . I agree. Why? Because you'll gain nothing from a schoolyard brawl, and it will endanger our reputation with our sensei if something happens and we're late." Shino said.

While Kiba was distracted by his teammates, Naruto subtly placed his hand on the hilt of Senbonzakura, and slid his left foot backwards, in case Kiba disregarded his teammates and attacked. For a moment, it looked as if he would. Kiba stood there and glared at Naruto. A tension began to build. Surprisingly, Kiba suddenly stepped back and huffed dismissively. "Whatever, just know that one of these days I'm going to beat you."

Kiba turned on his heel and began to head for one of the other entrances to the Academy, but he made sure to bump into Naruto roughly as he passed.

"U-um, sorry." Hinata said. She bowed her head in apology for her teammate, and then rushed after him, followed closely behind by a silent Shino.

Naruto slowly relaxed his stance, and took a deep breath. _Man, that guy really gets on my nerves._

 ** _I hope he continues to push your buttons; I like it when you destroy people._** Kurama supplied not-so-helpfully. Although it _did_ diffuse the rest of the tension. Naruto couldn't help but shake his head at the fox's blood thirsty nature.

He turned around, and saw his teammates looking at him. Sakura seemed worried, while Sasuki seemed indifferent, and just raised her eyebrow at him, as if to say "Well?".

"Come, on, let's go get some ramen." Without another word he began walking away, with them following behind him.

As Naruto left the courtyard with his teammates, his thoughts shifted to his sensei. _I wonder what they'll be like._ He'd heard a lot about how skilled the man was from the Hokage, and was curious if it was true.

 **— ₪** **NTUC ₪ —**

Naruto found out one thing about his new sensei soon after lunch. The man wasn't a fan of being on time. At all.

He had only just picked them up ten minutes ago, after making them wait for four and a half hours. _This guy better not be late all the time, or I'm going to use Senbonzakura to shred that stupid book of his._ Naruto vowed to himself. Kakashi sat across from Naruto and his teammates, leaning against the railing lining the roof.

"So, now that we're all here, why don't we introduce ourselves?" asked Kakashi nonchalantly. Naruto looked at him coldly.

If he didn't know about the man's reputation, he would have never believed this apparently lazy man was a high level ninja. He didn't strike a very imposing figure. In a way, he reminded Naruto of a scarecrow; tall and lean, with a shock of gravity defying silver hair, and a single eye lazily reading a small orange book in his hand.

"Um, what do you want to know?" Asked Sakura.

Kakashi shrugged. "Like, dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future. That sort of stuff." He answered.

"How about you go first, sensei," suggested Naruto. He was curious to see what the silver-haired man would choose to say about himself.

Kakashi looked up from his book, and shrugged. "Sure, why not," he said. "My name is Kakashi Hatake. What I like and what I hate? I don't wanna talk about it, Dreams for the future? Haven't really thought about it. As for hobbies ...I have lots of hobbies." There was silence after the underwhelming introduction.

"Now, your turn, on the left." Said Kakashi, pointing at Sakura.

"My name's Sakura Haruno. Um, the things I like? I like books, my parents, and Ino. I also admire Sasuki, because she's so strong." Sakura answered, looking over at Sasuki, who steadfastly ignored her. "Things I hate? I can't really think of anything, except for people who make fun of my forehead. Reading is my only real hobby. My dream for the future," Sakura pause, and looked down in thought. "I want to become a strong and beautiful Kunoichi, so nobody will ever make fun of me again. I also want to have a family."

Naruto looked at Sakura carefully, something he noted Kakashi doing as well. _Hmm, it seems she has some self-esteem issues still. That's something that'll need to be worked on, especially if Sasuki is going to respect her. Maybe I can use her admiration of Sasuki . . ._

"Alright, thanks for that. Next, you, Ms. Broody." Said Kakashi, pointing at Sasuki to Naruto's right. Internally, Naruto almost groaned. He just _had_ to poke the proverbial bear, or in this case, tiger.

"My NAME, is Sasuki Uchiha," She growled, trying to kill him with her glare alone. Naruto thought she looked rather cute when she was mad. "I don't have very many things I like, except for Naruto, and tomatoes," She said. "But I hate a lot of things. Dreams? I guess you could say I have a couple." She shifted uncomfortably. She looked a bit embarrassed, to Naruto. He almost missed the first part of what she said, because it was said so quietly. "I-I want to be an even greater kunoichi than my mother, and rebuild my clan. As for the second," Sasuki grit her teeth and all traces of embarrassment were gone. She glared a dark, murderous glare. "It's not a dream, for I _will_ make it a reality. I'm going to kill a _certain someone."_

Naruto frowned. For a second, he had seen a glimpse of the kinder side of Sasuki that he only rarely got to see. Seeing that kindness so quickly enveloped by rage and hate left him sad. It seemed almost unnatural for a girl that had once been so kind, to have such a darkness in them.

Kakashi cleared his throat. "Um, okay. On that happy note, you," He said sarcastically. Kakashi squinted at Naruto. "You look different than I expected. Did you do something to your hair?" He asked dumbly. Naruto's eye twitched in annoyance. Was Kakashi ever serious? He shook his head. "Oh well, then go ahead with your introduction."

Naruto looked at Kakashi strangely, but spoke nonetheless. He spoke in the same calm manner he had since he had entered the classroom that day. "My name, is Naruto. I like sushi, training and, Sasuki, and Gramps," Sasuki looked away at his admission with a huff of annoyance. Naruto closed his eyes briefly. "I hate spicy foods, bad sushi, and idiots," He ignored the raised eyebrows at that last comment. "As for my dreams for the future, I have several."

Kakashi's eyebrow rose so high it threatened to disappear underneath his forehead protector. "Several dreams, eh? Care to share any of them?"

Naruto shrugged. "I suppose I could," He said. Naruto steepled his hands in front of his face. "Like Sasuki, my dreams aren't just dreams, but ambitions. I want to restore my clan to prominence, and become the first from my clan to be Hokage," That comment earned him curious looks from all his team members, even Sasuki, who he hadn't mentioned being part of a clan to. He hesitated before sharing his last dream. "I'd also like to help a certain someone with some issues." He glanced at Sasuki out of the corner of his eye, something that seemed to go unnoticed by everyone else.

"Alright, good. It seems you're all unique with your own ideas. We'll have our first mission tomorrow." Said Kakashi. He folded his arms.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the man. _Mission? He must be talking about the second genin test. I wonder what kind he'll use?_ He wondered.

Sakura and Sasuki—who he knew had no idea what was going on—looked at Kakashi curiously. "What's the mission, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked.

"It's a task, that the four of us will be doing together." Kakashi said vaguely.

"What kind of task?"

"A survival exercise," Kakashi answered.

 _Survival training?_ What kind of test was Kakashi planning?

"What! Survival training? We did that in the academy. I thought we were supposed to start real missions now, not more practice!" Sakura protested. Her sentiments were shared by Sasuki; Naruto could almost feel the annoyance radiating off of her. She glared at Kakashi even more than when he had called her "Ms. Broody".

Kakashi wasn't fazed by Sakura and Sasuki's annoyance. "This is not like your previous training," He said mysteriously.

Sasuki grunted in annoyance. "Tch, then what kind of training is it?" She asked rudely. Kakashi began to chuckle. It wasn't a normal chuckle, but a slightly malicious one, that set Naruto on edge, and caused the hairs on the back of his neck to raise.

"Hey, that's a normal question," Sakura protested. "What's so funny?" Kakashi's chuckles simply escalated to full blown laughter. Naruto grit his teeth in annoyance. Kakashi was beginning to get on his nerves. He could tell his teammates were feeling the same; it looked like Sasuki was about to attack the man.

"Hehehe, if I tell you the answer, you're not going to like it, hehehe," He said ominously. Kakashi looked at them seriously. "Out of the twenty-seven graduates who just came out of the academy, only nine of you will actually be accepted as genin. The rest will be eliminated, and sent back to the academy," Kakashi told them. Sakura and Sasuki's eyes bulged in shock. "In other words, this is a make it or break it test, with a sixty-six percent chance of failure. See—look at you're faces—I told you that you wouldn't like it."

"WHAT!" Shrieked Sakura. "We worked hard to graduate, you can't just send us back! What about the test we just took, was that for nothing?" She protested.

Although his teammates were even more enraged than ever, Kakashi's words were like a bucket of cold water to him. It helped him calm down, and begin thinking. He'd already _known_ about the test, so it was no big shock. What was surprising was the way Kakashi described how it worked. While it was true only a select amount of genin would make it through, it was nowhere near as low as he was saying. After all, there _were_ other classes. So why was the man telling them their chances, almost tauntingly.

It suddenly hit him like a brick to the face. _He's playing mind games, trying to get us off our guard, but why?_ Either way, he knew he had to try to counter Kakashi's mind games, because they could seriously mess with their chances.

Before Kakashi could speak, Naruto answered Sakura's question for him.

"Don't you see?" He said. "That was just to see which of us had the _potential_ to be genin. This is the real test." He said grimly. His teammates gaped at his calm answer. Kakashi nodded to him thankfully.

"How can you be so calm about this, Naruto?" Asked Sakura. He shrugged. Although he wasn't sure what it was, he was determined that they would pass

"I'm calm because no matter what, we will be among those nine genin." He said simply, trying to reassure his teammates. Naruto looked at Kakashi pointedly. "No matter what kind of mind games or tricks this guy plays, we shouldn't let them get to us. Let me assure you—" Naruto looked at his teammates confidently, and then he turned to look at Kakashi intensely. His last message was more for him than Sasuki and Sakura. "—we _will_ become genin. Underestimating us will be your downfall."

Kakashi met his gaze, and looked at him shrewdly. At the same time, he could feel his teammates gazes on him as well, but for now, he focused solely on Kakashi.

"Alright then. You're to meet at the training ground three tomorrow at 6:00 am. " Kakashi ordered. Naruto nodded in understanding, alongside his teammates. Their sensei stood and turned to leave. At the last moment, he turned back and spoke, as if he just remembered. "Oh yeah, and I'd suggest you skip breakfast. If you eat, you'll just puke it up later." The man ignored the disgusted looks on the girls faces, and waved merrily. "Well, see ya later," He said, disappearing in a puff of smoke.

The three students sat silently following his departure. Naruto was deep in thought about the Jonin. Kakashi made it seem like he was a lazy lout, but he was far from it. All of his actions today had been meant to manipulate them for the test. _And this thing about breakfast is the coup de grâce. He wants us to be as worn down as possible to make passing and grasping what we need to do harder. No doubt he'll be late as well._ Naruto concluded. _But why?_

Although deep in thought, Naruto stood and looked at his teammates. "Well, that was certainly interesting. There's more to Kakashi than meets the eye." He said.

"More than meets the eye? Come on, the man's an idiot." Sasuki scoffed in disbelief. Naruto chuckled.

"Come on, don't tell me you didn't notice it. The man was deliberately taunting us. That entire speech was one big mind game. He wants us off our games for the test." He explained.

Sasuki's eyes widened in shock. After a minute of thought, she suddenly scowled in annoyance. "I guess you have a point. I didn't notice that."

For the first time since Kakashi left, Sakura spoke up, her tone nervous. "So then what are we supposed to do?" She asked.

Naruto shrugged. "I'm not exactly sure yet, we'll have to wait until the test to come up with a better plan." He replied. "Until then, I suggest you ignore his warning about not eating, he just wants us to be even weaker. I bet he'll even wait a few hours until he arrives so we'll be starving by the time the test begins." Once he saw his teammates had acknowledged what he said, he finished by saying. "Well, I'm going to go train. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

As he left, he made sure to catch Sasuki's eye, and once he was sure he had her attention, mouthed "Usual place.". He saw her nod in reply.

With one last wave, he vanished in a blur of speed, leaving nothing but a quiet whisper of wind in his wake.

 **— ₪** **NTUC ₪ —**

 **AN/ So there's the fifth chapter, hope you enjoyed. It ended up longer than I was expecting, and I'll probably go back and edit it before I publish it, but there you go.**

 **As you can see, I made some changes to Sakura's personality, as well as Ino's. In this story, she never really broke away from Ino, and retained a bit of her shyness, while also being less obsessed with Sasuki. After reading chapter seven for the original version, I felt like how I portrayed her was a little bit too close to bashing for my taste, even though that wasn't the intent, and I also realized that it was far more likely that without a romantic rival, Sakura and Ino wouldn't have their fall out.**

 **As for Kiba, I may have come off a bit harsh on him in this chapter, but I'm not going to be bashing him, he'll just be taking on a more Naruto-esque role.**

 **Anyways, that's all for now.**

 **So, til next time,**

 **RinneTaicho, Signing off!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Naruto: The Uchiha Chronicles**

 **AN/ Crap guys, sorry this is a day late. Not much of an excuse, I just got so caught up with the excitement of the Superbowl yesterday I forgot to post this. Special thanks to** **demonic hellfire** **for PMing me and making sure I was ok, otherwise I might've completely spaced.**

 **So anyways, here we are, another week, another chapter. In this chapter, we'll see the bell test, and Team 7 forming.**

 **Anyways, not that much for me to say here, so;**

 **Now, on with the chapter!**

Normal speech: "what"

Extremely loud group/single person shouting: "WHAT!"

Thoughts/Speech taken out of context: _'what'_

Letter/Book/Written text: ' _What'_

Demon/Summon speech: **"what"**

Demon/Summon thoughts: _**'what**_

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or Bleach, that honor belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and Tite Kubo respectively.

 **Arc II: Formation of Team 7:**

 **Chapter 6: The Bell Test, Team 7 Forms!**

— ₪ **NTUC ₪ —**

An hour after leaving his teammates on the Academy Rooftop, Naruto found himself sitting atop the Hokage Monument. His father's head, to be exact. He loved coming up here to look out at the village his grandfather helped found, especially at this time of day, when the sun was just beginning to go down on the other side of the village, and everything was bathed in an orange light. It was the place he always came when he needed to think.

Behind him, he heard the sound of dirt crunching underfoot. He didn't have to turn around to know who it was. "I assume you want some answers? It sure has been an odd day." He commented.

Sasuki nodded as she took a seat beside him. She crossed her legs, and stared at him intently. ". . . So, how much did you know about this whole team thing?" She asked.

"Hmm, I would've thought that you'd want to know about Mizuki first . . ." He said with a small smirk. When Sasuki gave him a warning look, he threw up his hands in defeat. "Settle down, I'll tell you." Naruto looked out across the village to collect his thoughts. "I knew they would separate us into teams after we graduated, and that we'd be assigned a Jonin sensei. I even knew about the second test." He admitted.

He could practically feel the burn of the glare she gave him. "Why didn't you tell me?" She asked accusingly.

"I didn't tell you because I knew you wouldn't like it. Like you said, you were never good at teamwork; you don't like people." He answered.

Sasuki looked away with a huff. "Tch, whatever. Still, I'm telling you, Sakura is going to slow us down. She barely passed the physical part of the test."

Naruto hummed in agreement. "You're not wrong about that. She'll probably be a hindrance at first, but that can change. That's why she was paired with us. Gramps is hoping that we'll be able to cover her lack of physical skills until she can improve them." He explained.

"Hn, I guess I get it." Sasuki said grudgingly. It clearly still didn't sit well with her being paired with someone she viewed as weak. She recovered quickly though, and suddenly looked up at him with a gleam in her eye. "So, tell me about this thing with Mizuki . . ." She demanded.

He almost chuckled in amusement. "Oh, that. It all started after we parted ways a couple nights ago . . ." Naruto began. He explained to her how Mizuki had tried to trick him into stealing the Forbidden Scroll, and how he had been given the task of stopping him, although he left a couple parts out. By the end, she seemed to be in disbelief.

"So let me get this straight, you have the Magnet Style kekkei genkai, and you never told me?" She asked. Naruto almost let his mouth fall open.

"Seriously, _that's_ what you got out of the story about a traitor trying to trick me into stealing the Forbidden Scroll?" He asked. Sasuki shrugged.

"Mizuki's an idiot, big surprise. I don't really get why he thought he could trick you, but then again, I don't really care." She replied. Her eyes narrowed dangerously though. "Now you holding out on me in spars, that I _do_ care about. How am I supposed to get strong enough to kill my brother when people pull their punches against me?" She asked. Naruto almost flinched at the accusatory tone in her voice. It was time's like this he cursed the fact he had to be so careful with his secrets. He was just lucky she wasn't more curious about why Mizuki targeted him.

In response to her question, he sighed heavily, and said, "Look, I can't really explain why I didn't tell you. All I can say, is that it's not the only secret I have, but I can't tell you those either. For now, I hope you can accept the fact that I just can't go all out against you, because it would involve revealing those secrets, and that could quite literally put my life and the life of everyone close to me in danger if they get out too soon."

He saw her jaw quivering furiously, as if she was barely restraining herself from yelling at him. After a few tense moments, she final let out a giant exhale of breath. "Alright, I'll deal with it for now. But just know that I'm going to become so strong you don't have a choice but to fight all out against me!" She declared with a fire appearing in her eyes.

Naruto smiled softly at his best friend. "I look forward to it."

For several more hours they stayed there and chatted. When the sun finally set they parted ways to their respective homes, so they could prepare for tomorrow's test.

— ₪ **NTUC ₪ —**

The sun had just barely begun to rise when Naruto got to the designated training ground. Dim early morning light filled the air, and the calls of birds going merrily about their business sounded all around. His two teammates were already there, leaning against a tree as they waited for their sensei.

"Good morning," He greeted them.

Sasuki lifted her head up, and nodded at him. "Hn, morning."

"Hey, how's it going?" Sakura replied back.

"I'm doing fine. So, did you guys take my advice and eat a good breakfast?" Naruto asked. To his relief, both girls nodded. He had been certain that Sasuki would, but he'd been a little iffy on Sakura. She seemed like she might be the type to go on one of those diets where you skipped meals.

Without much else to do, Naruto went and sat against one of the trees, though not before pulling out a scroll on chakra shape manipulation, and began to read. He was a paragraph in, when Sakura decided to ask a question.

"Hey, so what do you think this survival exercise is?" She asked. Naruto lowered his scroll, and thought about the question.

"Hmm, I think it's fair to assume Kakashi is going to be the opponent. We also know that he didn't want us to eat," He reasoned. "That combined with the fact that he's not here yet, meaning he'll probably be late, makes me believe that whatever he has in mind, he wants us thoroughly worn down and tired before we even begin. Whether it's physically, or mentally. Other than that, I couldn't tell you." He explained.

His teammates nodded at his assessment, though it seemed to have Sakura on edge.

By eight o'clock, Naruto had finished his scroll on chakra shape manipulation, and it had become abundantly clear that Kakashi would probably be as late as the day before. With that in mind, Naruto unsealed a couple bento boxes from his arm guard. At the questioning looks of his teammates, Naruto offered a shrug of his shoulders.

"I'm guessing Kakashi isn't going to be here for a couple more hours. I figured that might happen, so I brought these," He said, raising the boxes. "To keep our strength up. I've got some onigiri for Sakura," Naruto paused to hand the box in his left hand to Sakura, and then turned to Sasuki, who he noticed had a hungry gleam in her eye. Clearly, she'd already caught the scent of the contents. "And of course, grilled tomatoes for Sasuki." As soon as he said tomatoes, the box was snatched from his hands.

Naruto watched in amusement as she tore into it, and began to devour the tomatoes. Just as amusing as the sight of the normally stoic Sasuki acting so strange, was the look on Sakura's face when she saw how Sasuki was acting. He leaned towards her ear, and in a conspiratorial whisper, said, "Tomatoes are her favorite. She can't resist them. Funny how much she changes when she's presented with them."

Sakura could only nod numbly. After a minute of staring, she finally shook her head, and gave Naruto a confused look. "Thanks for the food, but what about you?" She asked.

Naruto chuckled, and unsealed a third box from his arm guard. He pulled off the lid, and showed her the contents, an assortment of raw fish and vegetables. "Chirashizushi." He said simply.

Without any other explaining, he pulled out a pair of chopsticks from the box and dug into his snack. At his side, Sakura began to daintily eat the three onigiri he'd made her. After the food was consumed, the next couple hours were spent in a comfortable silence. Naruto took to reading another scroll, while Sakura pulled out a book of her own, and began reading. Sasuki passed her time by using the training post to do target practice.

Naruto had nearly finished his scroll when Kakashi finally arrived at ten o'clock. He didn't make a flashy entrance. True to his seemingly lax nature, he simply appeared in front of them and waved pleasantly. "Hey there. Is everyone ready for today's test?"

A visible vein throbbed on Sakura's forehead. Naruto could tell she was barely restraining herself from yelling at him for being so late. Instead, she settled for a more sedate, yet still peeved, "Hey, you're late!" Kakashi chuckled sheepishly.

"Yes, well, a black cat crossed my path, so I had to take the long way around." Kakashi explained. Naruto, along with his teammates, stared at Kakashi in disbelief. That was the most blatantly false excuse he had ever heard! _He could at least put some effort into it._

"Anyways, since everyone is here, let's get started," Kakashi said, getting their attention. He walked over to the center training post and placed an alarm clock on top. A soft jingling sound rang out as he pulled a pair of bells from the pouch on his hip. "The test is simple. To pass, you have to get one of these bells from me before noon when that timer goes off." He explained.

"But sensei, there's only two bells there, there's no way we can all pass." Sakura observed. In the back of his mind, Naruto began to get an inkling of Kakashi's plan, even as the man began to chuckle ominously.

"Well of course. This way, one of you is guaranteed to fail. The ones who get a bell pass, and get to have lunch. The one who fails will be sent back to the academy, and will have to go hungry." Kakashi said, his tone harsh and cold.

While Sakura and Sasuki were shook up–and in Sasuki's case, angry; Naruto narrowed his eyes at his sensei. _So that's his game, huh? Try to divide us to see if we can put our differences aside and work together._

Kakashi had picked the perfect plan to try and divide them. He'd probably done this to several teams; teams which hadn't had the benefit of a full stomach and good sleep. Although he was slightly concerned, he hardened his resolve. He was confident he could get Sasuki and Sakura to work together with him, even if it _did_ take some convincing.

"So, any questions before we get started?" Asked Kakashi. Sakura rose her hand hesitantly. Kakashi smiled at her, and said, "Yes, Sakura?"

"If we use kunai and shuriken, won't we hurt you?" She asked. Kakashi chuckled and waved a hand dismissively. Naruto himself was surprised at her question. Perhaps she needed to learn more besides just academic knowledge.

"Oh, don't worry. Your attacks'll probably be too pathetic to hurt me anyways." If looks could kill, Naruto was sure that Kakashi would have been dead ten times over from the glares Sasuki and Sakura leveled at him. He could see that Sasuki was straining not to reach for her kunai pouch. "Now, if there aren't any more questions. We'll start on my mark," Kakashi told them. A tenseness fell over them, and Naruto felt his heart beat quicken. He tensed his leg muscles in preparation to spring away as soon as Kakashi gave the signal to start. His teammates did the same.

Kakashi let their apprehension build, he took turns staring at them with a surprising seriousness in his one eye. Finally, he gave the word. "Start!"

Before the word had even fully dropped from Kakashi's lips, Naruto latched on to his teammates shoulders, and used a body flicker to disappear. Though not before leaving a few 'presents' for Kakashi.

— ₪ **NTUC ₪ —**

When he had taken his teammates by the shoulder, Naruto took them to a small clearing a little way's away from the main training ground. He–or rather, his clones–had found it the night before when he had them scout the training ground. It was little more than a small gap in-between trees, barely ten feet in diameter, but it was plenty enough to sit and plan, and it was far enough away that Kakashi wouldn't be able to hear them.

They appeared in a whisper of displaced wind. Immediately, he had to cover Sakura's mouth, as she was about to scream in surprise. It came as a barely muffled squeak. Once he was sure it was over, he placed a finger in front of his lips to tell her to be quiet.

"Are you done yet? We have to be careful how loud we are so we don't give away out position." He told her.

Sakura nodded, though she was clearly confused. Once he was sure she wouldn't scream, he removed his hand. As soon as he did, she asked a question.

"What's going on, why did you bring us here?" She

Beside her, Sasuki nodded in agreement, and fixed him with a harsh scowl. "I'd like to know that too. I don't have time to waste; I have to get one of those bells. You know how important it is I become a ninja." She said, her tone accusatory.

Before he could reply, an explosion shook the forest. _BOOM!_ It was pretty clear that it had come from the direction they'd just come from. The loud noise caused Sasuki to tense and whip out a kunai, while Sakura made to scream. He had to quickly slap his hand over Sakura's mouth again so she wouldn't give away they're position.

"What the hell was that?" Sasuki hissed.

Naruto shrugged, and gave the girls a smirk. "I left a few clones to keep Kakashi busy while we talk." He said.

He then gave them a serious look.

"I know you both want to pass, which is why I brought you here. You'd just be wasting your time trying to get those bells, It's not the point of this test." He said. The two girls gave him incredulous looks, as if he was an idiot.

"What do you mean? He _just_ said that we have to get a bell to pass." Sakura said.

Naruto gave her and Sasuki a pointed look. "This coming from the man who tried to trick us into being tired and hungry for this test?" He asked. "We're ninja now, you can't take everything at face value."

Both girls looked a little embarrassed, though they showed it in different ways. While Sakura blushed, Sasuki simply huffed angrily.

"How do you _know_ the bells aren't the point though?" She asked impatiently.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "I already told you last night, the Hokage put this team together for a reason, he wouldn't allow a test that would ruin that balance." He said.

"I guess you have a point." She admitted grudgingly. "So if the bells aren't the real point, what is?"

"Think about it; everything Kakashi has done has been to drive us apart. He wanted us to be so tired and hungry that we'd ignore the most obvious way of getting the bells. This isn't a test of strength, it's of co-operation." He explained.

Sasuki scowled, while Sakura gaped in surprise.

"Huh?" Sakura asked eloquently.

Naruto gave her an amused grin. "What, you don't think he'd honestly expect us to be able to get a bell on our own, right? Kakashi has been a Jonin for longer than we've been alive. No, the point of this test is for us to put aside our individual needs to accomplish the goal of taking the bells."

"Hn, great, a test designed to make me use my worst skill." Sasuki griped. She turned to Naruto, and fixed him with a hard stare. "Are you _sure_ this is the point? What happens if you're wrong?" She asked. He could see how much effort it was taking for her to entertain the idea of working together. Even if it was him, the idea of putting her chance at becoming genin on the line was obviously extremely hard.

"I'm sure of it." He said confidently. "Besides, if I'm wrong, you two can have the bells. I won't let you fail because of my mistake."

For a few seconds, there was tense silence as the girls thought over what he said. While Sakura seemed to have accepted his explanation, Sasuki sat there with a blank look on her face. Finally, she let out an explosive sigh, and slumped forward. "Fine. We'll work together." She said. Then she looked at him intently. "I assume you have a plan?"

Naruto nodded, and gave an internal sigh of relief. "Yes. I'll start off by engaging Kakashi one on one. I'll get him focused solely on me, Meanwhile, I'll have a pair of clones with you who can tell you when it's time to start the plan. While I'm fighting Kakashi, you," Here he stopped, and looked at Sakura. "–will set traps around the clearing. My clone will help you set them up so they'll drive Kakashi forward, understand?"

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, I understand."

He then turned to Sasuki, who was looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "What about me?"

Despite the situation, he couldn't help but smirk maliciously. "Your job will be to wait until the signal, and then jump in and do a fire jutsu. I'll provide some wind to increase it. Then Sakura will spring her trap, and force him towards us so we can engage him directly. All you need to do is cut the bells from his waist. I'll do the rest." He replied.

"So, does everyone understand their role?" He asked. Sakura and Sasuki both nodded. Naruto smirked. "Alright, then let's go."

 **— ₪ NTUC ₪ —**

When Naruto reached the clearing, he alighted on the branch of a tree silently, and quickly took cover so that Kakashi wouldn't spot him. From the memories of his clones, he knew Kakashi had finished them off early. Now, the silver-haired jonin had pulled out a small orange book, and he was reading it avidly. He recognized the book, and he wasn't exactly the biggest fan. He took a brief moment to create a pair of clones, who he sent off to find Sakura and Sasuki, and then returned his focus to Kakashi.

Now seemed like the perfect time to make his move.

Naruto abandoned his cover by standing up. He formed the snake seal, and opened his mouth wide. " **Lightning Style: False Darkness!** " He whispered. The reaction was instantaneous; a fierce crackling beam of lightning burst forth from his mouth, shaped like a spear, and aimed right for Kakashi's book. A slight tingle remained from using an element he didn't have a naturally strong affinity to, but he ignored it.

For a moment, Naruto thought the attack might actually hit. It was not to be, though.

At the last second, Kakashi stepped to the side and pulled his book out of harm's way. The beam flew wide, and impacted into the ground, gouging a fist-sized hole several feet deep.

Naruto didn't let his attacks failure faze him. He drew Senbonzakura from its sheath, and blasted down the tree in a blur of motion. In less than a second he had moved in on Kakashi.

He tried to slash him from shoulder to hip, but Kakashi reacted swiftly. He spun around and whipped out a kunai. The jonin braced himself, and blocked the blow of Naruto's full sized katana with the small blade. Naruto rolled with the block. He ducked down and swiped at the bells hanging from Kakashi's jacket. Kakashi's one good eye widened in surprise, and he leapt away swiftly.

When they were separated, Kakashi regarded him with a shrewd gaze.

"You're awfully skilled with that sword," he remarked. "I'm curious, where'd you learn that lightning jutsu? It's rather difficult to master," Kakashi asked, lazily reading his book while keeping his eye on Naruto. Naruto began to chuckle. Kakashi frowned and said, "What, did I say something funny?"

"Hehehe, yes, you did," said Naruto, a mysterious grin on his lips. "Why would I tell you my secrets in the middle of battle?" He asked rhetorically. "But learning jutsu isn't my only skill," He said, feeling like a cat about to eat a particularly juicy canary. He took his right hand off of Senbonzakura, and pointed his index finger at Kakashi. "I'm also very good at _creating_ jutsu!" Kakashi's eyes widened just as he unleashed his jutsu.

" **Rikujokoro!** " He muttered.

Six beams of pale yellow light shot towards Kakashi. They enlarged into six slivers, wide and flat. They pierced Kakashi in the sides and produced a small cloud of smoke.

Naruto frowned. _That's not a reaction of Rikujokoro. He must've used a substitution._ His suspicions were confirmed when the smoke cleared and revealed a log being suspended by his jutsu.

"Very interesting. Your file said you were skilled, but it didn't mention anything about this. Someone's been holding out." Naruto spun on his heel and held Senbonzakura up defensively.

Kakashi was leaning up against a tree and reading his book. "Hmm, I suppose I won't be able to read Icha Icha against you," he said regretfully. Naruto grit his teeth. So far, he hadn't shown been able to touch Kakashi. He'd need to up the ante to keep Kakashi focused on himself.

 _This guy is good. I didn't even sense him until he spoke. I'll have to keep my senses on high alert. I might also need_ that _jutsu._ Despite his misgivings, Naruto maintained a confident front. "Talk all you like Kakashi, but don't think you've seen the limits of my ability. Those jutsu were mere parlor tricks compared to my true strength." He held Senbonzakura out in front of him vertically. "You did well enough against this blade alone, let's see what you make of many."

Senbonzakura's blade lit up with seals, and the iron sand was unleashed. It poured into the air, and formed a dense, dark mass of razor-like blades. The cloud glinted in the sunlight, lending a savage beauty to the sight. Naruto used his sword to guide the swarm of fragments towards Kakashi. The glittering black cloud branched into tendrils that snapped towards the tree and engulfed it. Kakashi leapt away from the tree just before the 'petals' of Senbonzakura reached him.

And thus began a complex game of cat and mouse. Naruto would send the blade fragments at Kakashi, and he would dodge them. There were close calls, but Kakashi always escaped. Naruto never relented in his assault. Despite the fact that it looked like Kakashi was on his heels, his sensei had yet to go on offense, and all he had to show for it were a few minor scratches. _He's pretty good. Even without the Sharingan, he can dodge my iron sand blades._ Naruto thought with grudging admiration.

Kakashi was the one to break the "stalemate". He spoke to Naruto while dodging a series of attacks on the surface of the nearby river. "You're good, I'll give you that, but you still aren't near my level" Kakashi lectured. Out of nowhere he used a substitution to escape from Naruto's barrage, and appeared crouched behind Naruto with his hands in the tiger seal. "You need quicker reflexes. **Leaf Village Secret Finger Jutsu: One Thousand Years of Death!** " He shouted, and shoved his fingers forward to try and poke Naruto . . . somewhere unpleasant.

Naruto's lip curled in distaste. Kakashi must've thought very little of him to use such an attack and expect it to do something. It was time to show Kakashi a glimpse of his true skills. _Even though I haven't finished it yet, I'll have to use Flash Step. I just hope I don't run into anything._

For a long while, he'd been working on his own original speed technique; a combination of a Space-Time jutsu and the Body Flicker. So far, it worked fifty percent of the time. The other fifty he ended up running into a wall. Hopefully it would work this time.

In the split second before Kakashi's finger poke hit, Naruto's form flickered and then vanished. Kakashi was left in an uncomfortable position with his arms extended. In a strange reversal of roles, Naruto flickered back into being behind Kakashi, with his hands clasped together in the same seal Kakashi used. " **Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!** " A giant ball of yellow and orange flame billowed from his mouth and hit Kakashi at point blank range.

 _WHOOSH_

The log Kakashi had replaced himself was reduced to cinders in seconds. _Damn. I can't get the drop on him, he just keeps anticipating me and dodging._ That fact was a blow to his pride. He grunted in annoyance and dodged the pair of hands that emerged from the ground and tried to ensnare him.

Kakashi emerged and they faced off once more. Naruto felt vindicated seeing the scorching on Kakashi's still slightly smoking jacket. It seemed he _had_ gotten to him.

There was no hint of the lazy Kakashi left, as he said, "Looks like you took my advice about coming at me with the intent to kill. If that fire jutsu had hit, it would've done serious damage, and that speed technique was unlike anything I've seen. Where do you learn all these things?" Naruto remained silent. He didn't need to give out any more information until the fight was over. Kakashi took his silence in stride. With a hint of his former lazy bravado, Kakashi said, "Oh well, don't tell me then. It doesn't change the fact that you won't get a bell. I told you, you alone can't beat me."

Naruto had to withhold a smirk. He feigned anger for Kakashi's sake. "You can stop the mind games Kakashi! I'm more than a match for you!"

He saw the flash of disappointment in Kakashi's eye. Clearly he still thought Naruto was trying to get a bell alone. _He can keep thinking that. It's about time we start the plan._ He gathered the cloud of fragments in front of himself, and sent them towards Kakashi in a solid wave. It would most likely be dodged, but hitting him wasn't the point. As soon as he knew Kakashi's view was obstructed, he created a clone and quickly had it dispel so it could send the signal to attack to his other clones. _Now, the game begins._

 **— ₪ NTUC ₪ —**

The Naruto clone that was with Sasuki had been waiting for a while. He could tell she was impatient to get to her part of the plan. They'd been watching the boss, and even if it was a little narcissistic, he couldn't help but admire the skills of the original. _Boss is really going all out. Kakashi seems to be just about ready . . ._

Sure enough, after a particularly close call for Kakashi with a Fireball Jutsu, the clone stiffened as it received the memories of the clone the boss had created to signal the plan.

Beside him, Sasuki took notice.

"Is it time?" She asked eagerly.

The clone nodded. "Good luck." It said. Without another word, it dispelled in a puff of smoke, sending the memories to the original.

 **— ₪ NTUC ₪ —**

The memories of his clone hit him. It was time to enact the plan. Naruto took a momentary pause to collect himself. His lungs heaved lightly for air. Kakashi stood across from him. _He_ looked completely fresh.

"You've been at this for some time. Perhaps you should give it a rest." Kakashi suggested. Naruto regarded Kakashi silently. His electric blue eyes were cold as glaciers. He slowly raised his katana. The methodical movement caused Kakashi tense and prepare for an attack. It wasn't. His intent wasn't to attack. The razor-like blades dispersed into iron sand, and began to gather back into the seals along his swords length. In the end, Naruto was left with a single blade as he stared coldly at his sensei

Kakashi looked at the blade with interest. "That really is an odd sword," he said. "Tell me, how is it you control that black powder?"

Naruto scoffed. "Do you really expect me to answer that?"

Kakashi shrugged, as if to say, 'It was worth a shot'. "I suppose it doesn't matter," Kakashi mused. Naruto looked at him sharply. "You're going to fail anyways. As special as that sword is, it won't help you win. Have you realized that as well? Is that why you're stopping your attack?"

Naruto's eyebrows knit together in annoyance. Would this man ever stop nagging about quitting? He suddenly smiled at Kakashi rather nastily. He knew how to shut Kakashi up. His teammates were in place, and it was time to show Kakashi who he was dealing with. He began to perform hand seals at a blistering pace. " **Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!** "

A howling wind kicked up, and he directed it to Kakashi. It was strong enough to begin tearing up the ground. Kakashi muttered something to himself, but Naruto couldn't hear it over the noise of his technique. He did hear Kakashi's call to him as he kept his feet stuck to the ground using chakra. "What's your plan, blow the bells off my waist?" Kakashi asked him derisively.

"I was thinking something more along the lines of _burning_ them off." Naruto answered back, as Sasuki appeared above him with her hands clasped in a familiar seal.

He took pleasure in the widening of Kakashi's eye when Sasuki let loose her impressive fireball jutsu. It engulfed his own jutsu, and the two techniques united to become a raging inferno of such intense heat that it sucked the moisture from the air. Sasuki landed next to him. There was a satisfied smirk on her face. "You think that shook him up?"

The fire had died down, and only shifting smoke remained. Naruto frowned. There was no sign of Kakashi yet.

"Maybe, stay on alert," he ordered. Sasuki grunted in annoyance, but complied. Their eyes flicked back and forth, searching for any hint of Kakashi's location. A faint sound reached Naruto's ears, one that barely registered; a slight shifting of earth. _There!_ He reacted instantly. Senbonzakura was whipped from its sheath and set to levitate in front of him.

" **Tenran!** " A simple touch from Naruto set the blade to spinning clockwise in the air, like some deadly fan. From the center, a horizontal tornado was released that blew away the smoke from their combination technique. Kakashi stood there in the center, perfectly unscathed. From the small mound of upturned earth around Kakashi, Naruto deduced that he had protected himself with a few hastily constructed earth walls. Kakashi eyed them a bit nastily.

"I'll give you this," he said, a slight exasperation straining his voice from the constant barrage of attacks. "That co—"

"Now Sakura!" Naruto cut Kakashi off mid-sentence. On all sides, a hail of simultaneous kunai and shuriken flew towards Kakashi, the deadly metal points seeking to dig into his flesh and draw blood. It forced him to do something he had avoided most of the fight; get in range for a taijutsu battle.

Naruto and Sasuki were quick to capitalize. They moved in on Kakashi, and began to bombard him with blows. One second he would catch a high kick from Naruto, and then the next he would be forced to let go and jump over a low sweep from Sasuki. The two also covered for each other. When he managed to land a blow that set one of them off balance, the other stepped up and kept him from pressing the advantage, or escaping.

It was like a dance for them. They'd been training together for so long, they didn't need words to communicate what they were going to do.

Despite the fact that they were holding their own, Naruto felt frustrated. He could feel the seconds ticking by, almost like there was a giant clock in his head. _Tick tock._ _Tick tock._ _Tick tock._ Each Imaginary second drove him mad.

Naruto finally took a chance, and glanced at the clock on the training post, and his pulse quickened. They only had five more minutes.

He caught Sasuki's eye, and motioned to the clock with a jerk of his head. She glanced at it, and gave him an understanding nod. The two broke away slightly.

"We have to end this now. It's time we play our trump card. I'll let myself get hit, and then you loosen the bells. I'll take care of the rest." he whispered to her. Sasuki nodded gripped her right arm warmer tightly.

"Let's do it then," she said. They began racing towards Kakashi for one last clash.

When they met the jonin, Naruto went in slightly ahead of Sasuki. As they had planned, he allowed himself to be caught in the stomach with a strong kick, sending him flying backwards Just before he did, though, he managed to lightly touch the bells.

With his goal complete, he twisted in midair, flipping backwards and landing softly in a crouch. Naruto clasped his hands into the ram seal, and began to focus his magnet chakra on the bells

Sasuki followed soon after him, and began to attack fiercely. She struck out with a leaping spinning heel kick, which Kakashi caught easily. Undeterred, she twisted gracefully, and attempted to land a blow on his cheek. Kakashi caught that too. Still she didn't give up. Sasuki went with Kakashi's latest counter by bringing her second foot around for what would have been a devastating blow. Luckily for Kakashi, he managed to transfer his grip of her right arm underneath his own, and grip her legs with his hands. Sasuki smirked triumphantly. From beneath her arm warmer, a kunai slipped into her palm.

"What?" exclaimed Kakashi. She lashed out before Kakashi could do anything more than widen his eyes. A quick slash severed the bells, and sent them tumbling towards the earth. In desperation, Kakashi tossed her away, but it was too late.

As soon as the bells had been severed, Naruto stood and used his control to pull them towards him. The twin silver blurs zipped through the air and into his waiting grip. Sasuki spun elegantly in mid-air. She landed softly at Naruto's side. Sakura was quick to join them. _She_ emerged from the bushes, and dashed to Naruto's other side.

Kakashi just stared at them blankly. "What . . . just happened? How did you get the bells so fast?" he asked numbly.

Naruto savored the shock in Kakashi's eye. He smirked, and decided to enlighten his sensei.

"Remember earlier, when you said my sword wouldn't help me win?" Kakashi nodded in puzzlement. It took him a moment for his brain to connect the dots. His eye widened.

"You possess the Magnet Style kekkei genkai! That black powder . . . was iron sand!" Kakashi said with comprehension. Naruto nodded.

"That's right Kakashi. You underestimated my blade, and failed to comprehend its true nature. Just as I said it would be yesterday, underestimating us was your downfall." He told the older man. Kakashi nodded in understanding. He chuckled, and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"I suppose you're right. Congratulations Naruto, you pass." Kakashi told him, the corners eye crinkling merrily. Naruto wasn't fooled by Kakashi's cheerful attitude. There was something about his tone that set him on edge. Sasuki, too, seemed suspicious. Sakura was the only one that smiled back at Kakashi.

"As for you two," A slight edge entered Kakashi's voice. His eye narrowed at Naruto's female teammates. "I'm afraid you two will be going back to the academy. You failed to get a bell, so you don't pass."

Sasuki and Sakura gaped in shock. They began to protest vehemently, cursing Kakashi. None of it phased him, he just stared at them apathetically. "Save it. You knew the rules. It's your own fault you let Naruto capture the bells in this little plan of yours." he said harshly.

Naruto watched his teammates crumble. Sakura looked as if she had been physically struck. Tears welled in her eyes, and her head drooped sadly. Sasuki's expression was the hardest for Naruto. She looked at Kakashi with rage for a second, and then looked at him with an expression that he wasn't used to seeing. There was a desperation there, a plea for help that wrenched at his heart. He couldn't let her feel like that for even a second longer, so he gave her a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry. I already told you, I _won't_ let you fail." Naruto told her. Although it was meant for both of them, his eyes never left Sasuki's. Even if nobody else could tell, she was a lot more vulnerable than people knew.

He then turned, and looked at Kakashi fiercely. "I never said I would keep the bells for myself. The test isn't over yet, the bell hasn't rung," he said. Kakashi looked at him curiously. "Sasuki and Sakura were an integral part of the plan, especially Sasuki. I couldn't have completed it without them," Naruto explained. "Therefore," He looked at his two teammates. "I'm giving the bells to them." With a deft toss, he gave the bells to the two girls.

His teammates numbly caught the bells he threw at them. Sasuki looked at him in shock. "A-are you serious? You're just _giving_ me the bell?" she asked. Naruto nodded, a small smile on his lips.

"Like I said. Even if it means I fail, I I'll make sure you'll pass. You took a risk in going along with my plan, so it's only fair." he said. Sasuki nodded unsurely, and gave him a grateful look.

Naruto turned back to see his sensei studying him. "Well Kakashi, what will it be? I might've gotten the bells, but Sakura and Sasuki now possess them. You either pass them as well, or I'll refuse to be trained by you. It's your choice."

Kakashi's eye narrowed dangerously. "Are you sure about that? It's all of you, or none of you? Are you _really_ sure?" he asked menacingly. Naruto met his glare with one of his own. He nodded resolutely. Kakashi turned to Sasuki and Sakura. "And what of you two? You have the bells, so technically I _have_ to pass you," he said. He glanced at Naruto. "He, on the other hand, doesn't. I could just dump him back at the academy and train you two. What do you say?"

For a second, Naruto was actually afraid one of them would cave. Not so much Sasuki, but possibly Sakura. He didn't know if she would be able to pass up the opportunity to pass. Although, even if he didn't want to admit it, a small part of him was afraid Sasuki wouldn't be able to choose their friendship over her chance to avenge her brother.

To his relief, neither took the bait. Sakura bit her lip uncertainly, but ultimately shook her head no.

Sasuki was the one that surprised him. She actually gave Kakashi a fierce glare, and looked insulted. "Not a chance!" she growled.

She looked at the ground and clenched her fists, then turned her piercing onyx eyes back to Kakashi. "Naruto put a lot of faith in me. I'm not about to betray it. We all made a deal to work together, and these two have held up theirs, so there's no way I won't hold up mine." She declared.

"Yeah!" said Sakura, nodding much more surely, emboldened by Sasuki's reaction.

Kakashi looked at all of them darkly. "As you wish . . ." The one-eyed jonin performed a few hand seals. The sky darkened with thunder clouds, and lightning flashed across the sky. A fierce wind kicked up, and Kakashi loomed over them, tall, and menacing. "If it's all of you, or none of you, then I have no choice but to say . . ." Kakashi paused for dramatic effect, and leaned forward menacingly. "You pass." He said, rather anticlimactically.

Naruto rolled his eyes. He thought that was a little overdramatic. His teammates blinked owlishly.

"Huh?" asked Sakura eloquently. Kakashi smiled at them.

"I said, you pass. You see, out of all the teams I've tested, your group is the only one that has decided to go completely against my rules, and work together to get the bells. You even managed to get them, something I never suspected." Kakashi told her cheerfully. Sakura nodded slowly. Kakashi turned to Naruto and narrowed his eye playfully. "Though I suspect someone saw through a few of my plans. I couldn't help but notice that nobody seemed too hungry when I mentioned lunch. None of you listened when I told you not to eat, did you?"

Naruto shrugged nonchalantly. "Technically you merely _suggested_ we not eat. We simply declined to acquiesce." He said.

Kakashi nodded understandingly. "Very well, then there's one more thing I want to do before we part ways. Follow me, I'm going to show you why I put such an emphasis on teamwork," he requested. Naruto nodded alongside his teammates, and they followed their sensei as he led them through the foliage and to a field adjacent to the third training ground where they took their test.

There was a large circle of brick and mortar, their red and brown coloring standing out amongst the emerald green grass. But that wasn't the most eye-grabbing thing. No, the thing that caught Naruto's eye was the towering black stone in the shaped similar to a kunai.

He knew what it was, and what it represented. His throat tightened slightly. The names of his parents lay on that stone. Kakashi led them to it, and stopped on the side with the names carved into it.

"Do you three know what this is?" Kakashi asked them. Naruto could tell his teammates weren't sure, but he nodded.

"It's a memorial for ninja that have fallen in the line of duty," he answered quietly. Kakashi nodded solemnly. Sasuki and Sakura looked at the stone with a new found sadness in their eyes.

"Yes, it is. The names of my best friends are on this stone. Their names lie right next to my sensei's." he told them. Sakura looked at him wide-eyed. Sasuki and Naruto merely looked at the ground with dull eyes. Naruto knew that he and Sasuki were the ones that understood Kakashi's pain best.

Kakashi looked at all of them with utter seriousness. "In this ninja world, those who break the rules are scum, this is true. But those who would abandon their friends and teammates, well they're even worse than scum in my books. I want you all to remember this place, and never forget to look after your friends and teammates. I didn't realize how much my teammates meant to me until it was too late. Don't make the same mistake." he told them sagely.

They all nodded solemnly. Kakashi smiled cheerfully. "Good, now that all the serious stuff is out of the way, I was wondering if you'd answer some questions, Naruto?"

Naruto shrugged. "I suppose you want to know about my jutsu?" he guessed. Kakashi nodded sheepishly.

"Yes, I did. Could you explain to me how you used those jutsu of yours? I've never heard of a genin that had such excellent control over multiple elements before. I don't even know what that Rikujokoro you used was."

He nodded. He didn't have a problem that. There wasn't much harm in telling Kakashi some of his secrets now. After all, he would need his guidance to advance farther. "Sure. The secret is the shape manipulation. It's how I perform barrier ninjutsu so easily, like my Rikujokoro." His sensei gaped in surprise.

"Barrier ninjutsu, without hand seals? How?" he gasped. Naruto smirked.

"I have a full grasp of shape transformation," he said simply. Kakashi nodded dumbly. The silver-haired man shook himself from his stupor, and chuckled in amusement.

"I have a feeling you're going to be an interesting group to teach. Congratulations on passing, tomorrow we take our first mission as Team 7. Until then, see you later." Kakashi waved goodbye, and disappeared in plume of smoke.

In the relative silence following Kakashi's departure, Naruto felt his teammates eyes on him. He turned to see them indeed staring at him intently. "Would you like me to answer questions as well?" he asked. Both nodded immediately. Naruto sighed. "Very well, come on. We might as well go and get something to eat. I'll answer some of the questions on the way," Naruto said, turning to begin walking to his favorite sushi restaurant.

His teammates followed, and began to ask him questions, which he would answer as best as possible. Eventually, they began to discuss the test. To his surprise, Sasuki complimented him on his skills. She tended to hate doing that.

"I have to admit your plan was pretty good. I also noticed you seem to have been holding out on me more than you let on."

Naruto smirked. "Maybe, but I couldn't have gotten the bells without that last attack from you," he said. Sasuki smirked sideways at him. After a few moments, Naruto noticed that Sakura was hanging back slightly, a downcast expression on her face. "Is something wrong, Sakura?" he asked, surprising the girl. Sakura jumped slightly, and looked down.

"Well, it's just that you two are so strong. You guys were amazing against Kakashi. Compared to you, I barely did anything," she said glumly. Naruto frowned. He didn't think there was any question that Sakura was the weakest of the three of them. He paused in his step, and placed a hand on Sakura's shoulder to keep her in place.

She looked up at him questioningly.

He paused to consider how to say what he wanted to. "If you really feel that way, then we can help you improve." Naruto saw Sasuki looking at him incredulously, but he gave her a pointed look until she backed down. "The training would be hard, but we could get you stronger. I can't guarantee you'll be as strong as us, but you'll definitely be a cut above everyone else," he told her. "So, do you want to improve?"

Sakura, to her credit, didn't hesitate for long. She gave him a determined nod, a fire entering her jade-green eyes. "Yes," she answered firmly.

"Good, we'll talk to Kakashi about it tomorrow." Sakura smiled gratefully at him.

"Thanks, Naruto." she said sincerely.

Naruto waved her thanks off. "It's not a very big deal. After all, we're teammates."

And they were. That day, a bond had begun to be formed. One that would unite the team for years to come.

 **— ₪ NTUC ₪ —**

 **AN/ So there you go, another chapter down. This one was actually pretty easy to re-do, since it was mostly writing a couple new scenes, and then tweaking the others. I hope you enjoyed.**

 **I think the next story I'll be working on will be the one I promised to the person that won my contest to guess the second girl paired with Naruto in this. It will involve a Naruto who has the Dead Bone Pulse, and is the grandson of Tobirama. One of the pairings will be Fem-Shikamaru, but there will be at least one more girl with him.**

 **Well, that's all for now. Tune in next week for the next chapter, where we'll see the start of the Wave Arc.**

 **So, til next time,**

 **RinneTaicho, Signing off!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Naruto: The Uchiha Chronicles**

 **AN/ Well, welcome back to another chapter of Naruto: The Uchiha Chronicles. So in this chapter, we'll finally begin the Wave Arc.**

 **There's not much as far as news goes. Reception seems to be good for the story, so all I can say is please keep up the support.**

 **Now, enough talk, on with the chapter!**

Normal speech: "what"

Extremely loud group/single person shouting: "WHAT!"

Thoughts/Speech taken out of context: _'what'_

Letter/Book/Written text: ' _What'_

Demon/Summon speech: **"what"**

Demon/Summon thoughts: **_'what_**

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or Bleach, that honor belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and Tite Kubo respectively.

 **Arc III: Land of Waves Escort Mission:**

 **Chapter 9: Journey to the Land of Waves, the First Real Mission!**

 **— ₪** **NTUC ₪ —**

Naruto, alongside his sensei and Sasuki, stood off to the side as they watched Sakura training her medical skills. She performed a swift set of hand seals, and her hands were enveloped in a whirring green miasma of chakra. Sakura held her hands over a large, dead-looking trout on the table before her. Her brow was knit together in severe concentration. "Come on, just one more time. Breath, you stupid fish!" panted Sakura. Naruto's practiced eye caught the slight twitch of the trout's tail. An instant later the fishes mouth and gills began to gape as it flopped around madly. Sakura smiled in success.

Kakashi clapped lightly at the accomplishment. "Very good, Sakura. You've come a long way in two months. That only took fifteen seconds," he said. Naruto nodded in agreement.

"Indeed." Naruto was impressed with her determination, not only in perfecting the jutsu, but in building all her skills. Sakura's reserves had nearly tripled in the short time they had been a team, and Kakashi had even begun to teach her about elemental jutsu.

Sakura looked at Sasuki shyly. "What about you, Sasuki? Do you think I've gotten better?" She asked.

"Hn, I guess you're not quite as useless as before. But you're still the weakest link," Sasuki answered dismissively. Sakura's expression fell for a fleeting second, but she was smiling again a second later.

"Oh well, guess I just have to train harder!" She declared. Kakashi smiled at her.

"That's the spirit." Kakashi said encouragingly. He then looked at them with his one eye curled in amusement and cleared his throat. When he was sure they were paying attention, he spoke.

"Now, in light of Sakura's most recent accomplishment, I've got a bit of a surprise for you all," he said. They looked at him intently. "I think it's time we took a C-rank mission," Kakashi told them. Naruto and his teammates reacted with joy. Sakura gave a big "Yay!", and Sasuki smirked eagerly. Naruto himself felt as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Finally, no more chores! They had been performing D-rank missions—or as he liked to call them, daily time wasters—at least once a day since they had become a team. The D-ranks were dull, dreary work, and each task had begun to erode away Naruto's patience.

 ** _I don't know what you're so excited about. It's not like you're going to find any challenge in a C-rank. I doubt you'll even find someone worth killing on one of those._** Kurama complained. Naruto rolled his eyes.

 _Not everybody is as bloodthirsty as you. Besides, it's better than sitting around the village and doing manual labor._ Naruto shot back. Kurama grunted in agreement.

"Anyways, why don't you all go home and wash up. I'll meet you in front of the mission assignment building at two o'clock," Kakashi commanded. He gave a cheery wave goodbye, and then disappeared in a large cloud of smoke.

"Well, see you in a bit," said Sakura cheerfully. She turned and dashed away. That left just Naruto and Sasuki.

"I suppose we should leave too; I guess I'll see you at the meeting hall." he said.

Sasuki nodded in agreement. "See you later." She said.

With that, she turned to begin walking towards her home at a sedate pace. As she left, Naruto heard her mutter, "Finally, a real mission. I was getting tired of all the chores."

He watched her disappear into the foliage, and then made his own exit by disappearing in a flicker of speed.

 **— ₪** **NTUC ₪ —**

After taking a quick shower and eating lunch at Ichiraku's Ramen, Naruto was the first to arrive outside the building that held the mission assignment desk. His teammates arrived shortly after, and after their sensei joined them, Naruto led the team into the room beyond the entrance; a large wood-lined space with a quaint feel to it. The word for _shinobi_ was painted in a giant black kanji on the ceiling, with two stick-like lights on either side, to light the room when the light from the floor-to-ceiling windows wasn't sufficient.

On their way to the desk, the team passed a small sliding door to the right

Sitting at a long table situated in front of one of those rows of windows, was the Hokage and several other ninjas, one of which was Iruka. Naruto gave Iruka a slight nod, which he returned. The table in front of them was piled with mission scrolls. Naruto bowed politely to his grandfather figure alongside his teammates.

The Hokage smiled at them warmly. "Ah, Team 7. Are you here for your daily mission?" He asked pleasantly.

Kakashi shook his head in the negative. "Not exactly, Lord Hokage. Remember our conversation about my team taking on more difficult missions?" he questioned. Hurizen's mouth formed into a silent 'ah'.

"Are you sure they're ready for a C-ranked mission this early, Kakashi?" He asked Kakashi as he sized them up with calculating gaze. The silver-haired jonin nodded without hesitation, and muttering quickly broke out amongst the other ninja assigning missions.

Naruto stood calm and collected while he was being scrutinized by his gramps—well, more like his teammates were being scrutinized. Apparently, the old man was impressed with what he saw. "Hmm, very well." He said. The other shinobi at the table looked at him as if he had grown a second head. Iruka in particular seemed uncertain, he was looking at Sakura with worry.

"Uh-um, are you sure that's a good idea, Lord Third?" He asked hesitantly. The Hokage arched one of his grizzled white eyebrows at the man. "I mean; don't you think they should have a bit more time to improve their skills?" Iruka clarified.

Naruto looked at Iruka sharply, and willed the man to cease his worrying. He finally had a chance to move beyond the tedious chores that were D-ranks, and he didn't want it to be messed up. _I swear, even if I am fond of him, if Iruka costs me this chance, I'm going to use him as a practice dummy for my next jutsu!_ Naruto thought frustratedly to himself. Kurama snickered in amusement.

Luckily—both for him and Iruka—the Hokage didn't seem swayed by the objection. He waved off Iruka off, and said, "I'm confident that these three can handle themselves on a more advanced mission."

Iruka still didn't seem completely convinced, nor did all the other mission assigners.

The Hokage ignored them, and scanned the pile of C-rank mission scrolls before him. Naruto watched with hungry eyes. Hiruzen hummed in thought, and then plucked a scroll from the pile. "This should do for a first time," he said. He handed the scroll to one of his helpers, who recorded the mission and who it was assigned to. When the helper was finished, he handed Kakashi a copy of the scroll. The silver-haired man read it while the Hokage briefly explained the mission.

"The mission is a routine protection mission. Your client is a highly respected bridge builder from the Land of Waves. You'll be escorting him home, and then guarding him as he finishes his latest bridge. There shouldn't be too much trouble." He told them

"Hmm, yes, it seems simple enough," Kakashi agreed. "We'll accept the mission," He said as he rolled up the scroll.

Hiruzen nodded with a smile. "Good, good. Then I'll bring him in now," he said. He raised his voice and called out.

"Bring in Mr. Tazuna!" Naruto's head turned to the door they had passed on their way in. It led to a small room where clients would wait for their mission to be chosen. There was a shuffling on the opposite side, and a moment later it slid open with a— _clack_ —and an elderly man stepped into the doorway.

His appearance was not what Naruto had been expecting. The man had grey hair, with a big beard and dark eyes behind his spectacles. A rope was tied around his forehead, and his clothes were worn from hard work. Clutched in his hand was a small drinking gourd, and from the strong smell of alcohol wafting from it, it was full of sake. Tazuna had obviously had more than a bit of the drink, because he had to lean on the door way for support.

"Huh, what's this?" He asked with a slur. His voice was gruff and surly. "I thought I ordered ninja, not a group of snot-nosed brats and a scarecrow babysitting them." Tazuna complained. Naruto looked at the man coldly. Beside him, he could feel Sasuki bristle angrily, not that he could blame her. In just the one sentence Tazuna had managed to both belittle and insult her, two things Sasuki hated. It would be impressive if it wasn't so foolish.

Kakashi, who didn't seem affected Tazuna's words, tried to smooth things over. "I can assure you Mr. Tazuna, my students are far more than capable of protecting you. Even if they're not, I'll be there as well, so there's no need to worry." he said placatingly with one of his eye-smiles.

Tazuna grunted, unimpressed. He took another swig of sake and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "They had better be," He grumbled. The bridge builder glared at them. "Alright, listen up you brats. I paid good money for this mission, so I don't care if two of you 're nothing but a couple of wimpy girls and some pretty boy with a tin sword; I expect you to protect me with your lives."

Tazuna's rude demand left Naruto severely irritated, and his teammates pissed off. Sasuki made to lunge at the man and Naruto had to hold her back with a calming hand on her shoulder. She shot him a withering glare, but he ignored it. "Calm down. We can't attack a client," he reasoned. She growled in annoyance. Naruto patted her shoulder reassuringly, and whispered so only she could hear, "I know how you feel, but it isn't worth the trouble. Besides, you shouldn't care what an old drunk thinks." Sasuki snorted in amusement. She gave him a grudging nod of agreement. He glanced at Kakashi, who gave him a grateful tilt of the head

Kakashi cleared his throat awkwardly. "Anyways. Mr. Tazuna, we'll meet you at the main gate at eight o'clock tomorrow. That is, if you still want our protection," Said Kakashi.

The bridge builder heaved a great sigh, but ultimately nodded. "Aye, I'll take your protection." With that, he turned and left the way he came. The team was left alone save for the Hokage and his assistants. Kakashi turned to them with a surprisingly serious look in his eye. It was unusual for him to take anything seriously.

"Alright, as I just told Tazuna, we'll be leaving at eight o'clock. I'll expect you to be packed and ready. Make sure you have supplies for at least a month. Is that understood" Naruto and his teammates nodded. Kakashi smiled at them. "Good, then I'll see you all bright and early tomorrow," He said.

After that the team began to make their way out of the mission hall. At the entrance, they split off and went their separate ways. Kakashi and Sakura went to the right, towards their downtown apartment and family home respectively. Sasuki continued straight ahead in the direction of her apartment. Naruto himself turned to the left and made his way back to the Grotto. There was a pit of excitement in his stomach. Tomorrow he would finally get a new mission.

 **— ₪** **NTUC ₪ —**

The next morning the team met up at the villages main gates. To Naruto's surprise, even Kakashi was on time. He was waiting for them off to the side of the gates, chatting with the client. When they approached, he looked up and smiled. "Good, you're all here," He said brightly. Kakashi stopped to examine them before they departed. Once he had determined that all three of them had the supplies they needed—Sakura and Sasuki in their packs, and Naruto in his storage seals—the group set out on their journey. They arranged themselves around the bridge builder in a diamond formation, with Sasuki at the head, Kakashi in the back, and Sakura and himself on either side.

Naruto found the trek quite pleasant. The sun shone brightly overhead, and a pleasant breeze kept them cool. They were surrounded on both sides of the path by the serene forests that made up the Land of Fire.

Due to Tazuna, they were forced to travel at a slower speed than they usually would. It would take them just over a day to reach the southern coast of the Land of Fire, where they would catch a boat to Tazuna's home land.

Everything was rather uneventful, and seemed to be going well. That is, until Naruto spotted something odd down the road.

They were crossing a sturdy wooden bridge over one of the many murmuring creeks that crisscrossed the countryside, when he noticed a puddle of water in the road ahead.

A puddle, when it hadn't rained for weeks? Not likely. Naruto immediately stretched out his senses, and to his alarm, he found two chunin level chakra signatures in the puddle.

A trap!

He quickly turned to Kakashi and opened his mouth to warn him.

To his surprise, he found that Kakashi had noticed the puddle as well and was watching it out of the corner of his eye. He turned his gaze from it for just long enough to give Naruto a subtle shake of the head. Naruto understood the silent order. Don't do anything. His every instinct was screaming at him to prepare for an attack, but he forced it down and waited for the inevitable.

It didn't take very long. As soon as Kakashi had passed by the puddle they attacked. Two black-haired men rose from the puddle like silent wraiths and rushed Kakashi. They were dressed in brownish-grey camouflage, with re-breathers covering their mouths, and strange horned forehead protectors, with two massive clawed gauntlets on their left and right hands respectively. A chain made of shuriken snaked from their gauntlets, and wrapped Kakashi within its barbed grasp. With one sharp tug, Kakashi appeared to be torn to pieces. Blood and body segments littered the earth.

"One little piggy down, four to go," one of them cackled maliciously. The two continued their fierce charge towards the group.

Naruto felt like cursing. He could recognize their attackers easily from the bingo book; the Demon Brothers. He reacted in a split second, and ignored the carnage he had just witnessed.

While his teammates were still shaken by Kakashi's apparent death, Naruto quickly began to bark orders. "Sakura, quick, protect Tazuna. Take him underground if you have to. Sasuki, with me!" His words snapped his teammates out of their shock, and they immediately scrambled to follow his orders.

With Sasuki by his side, Naruto rushed to meet the Demon Brothers charge. Sasuki launched a kunai and a shuriken at the chain. They flew with expert accuracy, and pinned their chain to a tree. Naruto and Sasuki rushed in to take advantage while the brothers were tugging at the chain in a vain attempt to free it.

Naruto, took the brother with the single horn on his forehead protector, Gozu, if he remembered correctly. He launched a devastating kick at the man's jaw. It landed with crushing force, and forced him to release the chain from his gauntlet, lest his arm be ripped out of his socket. Gōzu managed to use the momentum from Naruto's kick to roll himself into a crouch.

"Quick, get the bridge builder!" He ordered his brother, who was in a similar position. They made another mad dash for Tazuna, but this time Naruto was more prepared. Two crackling yellow energy ropes were created in his hands.

" **Hainawa!** " Naruto deftly threw the ropes at the brothers, who were too surprised to avoid them. The ropes wound around them, and brought them to a skidding halt face-first.

A tense silence settled over the road. With his adrenaline pumping, Naruto cautiously approached the two brothers.

"Dammit, what the hell is this jutsu?" Cursed the brother with the two horns, Meizu. He and his brother were squirming to get out of their bindings.

Naruto looked at them with an emotionless expression. "You can stop struggling. Hainawa blocks off your chakra, so there's no escape," He said coldly. Slowly the brothers struggling died down. They settled for glaring at him impotently. Sakura and Sasuki moved to join him. Together, the three stared down at the brothers.

"Hmm, nice job incapacitating them," Kakashi complimented, as he popped up behind them. Naruto simply rose an eyebrow at his theatrics. Sakura, on the other hand, gaped in surprise.

"I see you're still alive," Sasuki said coldly.

"Jeez, you almost sound disappointed." Kakashi said jokingly. Sakura growled and slapped him on the arm.

"Don't scare us like that sensei! If you were still alive, why didn't you help?" She asked angrily. Kakashi shrugged nonchalantly.

"I knew you guys could handle it," he turned to Tazuna with a serious look in his eye. "Besides, I had to figure out who their target was," he said seriously. Naruto's eyes narrowed as well. They had gone straight for the bridge builder. Something about this job was off, and he didn't like it.

Tazuna shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. "What are you talking about?" he asked nervously. Kakashi started to glare harshly.

"I had to know if they were after us—not unlikely, considering that we have some high profile members on our team—or you," he explained. Naruto put the pieces together, even as Kakashi voiced what he was thinking. "You lied when you applied for this mission, Mr. Tazuna. You asked for simple protection from robbers and highwaymen. Now explain why there are ninja after you, or I'll end the mission right here." Kakashi said threateningly.

Tazuna's shoulders slumped and he heaved a great sigh. "I suppose I've got no choice," He said resignedly. He told them of his countries struggle, how they were under the thumb of a business magnate named Gato. Naruto's lip curled in distaste when his name was mentioned. He knew from his grandfather's information that Gato was the worst kind of scum. The man dealed in drug and slave trafficking in secret, while pretending to be a legitimate business man. Tazuna also explained what his bridge would mean for the country, and how Gato wanted to kill him so he would finally have an ironclad grip on the Land of Waves. By the time he was done, the entire team was frowning deeply, and Tazuna was looking at them pleadingly.

"I'm sorry Mr. Tazuna, but I can't take my team on this mission. With this information, it has clearly escalated to an A-rank mission. That's something they're not ready for yet," Kakashi said regretfully. Tazuna's pleading expression fell.

"I understand," he said softly. Naruto frowned. He didn't feel right just abandoning the mission. He knew what Gato was capable of, and he knew that the problems were only just beginning if Gato lived up to his reputation.

"Let's not be so hasty, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said calmly. Kakashi gave him a look that clearly said 'continue'. Naruto pressed on, "We both know that with you and me on the mission, the chances of success are virtually guaranteed. It's not right to just leave the country defenseless." he told him. Kakashi nodded reluctantly.

"What are you suggesting, that we disregard protocol and continue?" He asked.

Naruto shook his head.

"No, I'm saying that we ask permission. I'm sure Gramps wouldn't be averse to some sort of deal. We have to send word to have a team of Anbu come and pick up the Demon Brothers anyway, so why not also ask for permission to continue the mission as well," Naruto reasoned. Sakura and Sasuki voiced their agreement, and Kakashi placed his chin in his hand in and thought the idea over. Finally, he relented with a large sigh.

"Fine, It's late afternoon anyways. It'll start to get dark soon, so we might as well make camp and wait for the Anbu to arrive." Kakashi quickly bit his thumb, and summoned one of his ninja dogs, a pug by the name of Pakkun. He was sent off with a scroll for the Hokage, requesting for the retrieval of the brothers, and permission to continue the mission. After he had sent off his summon, Kakashi began to tie up the Demon Brothers with actual ninja wires. When he was done, he slung them over his shoulders.

"Alright, let's go make camp," he ordered.

 **— ₪** **NTUC ₪ —**

When they made camp, the team chose a spot next to a river with good visibility. To their back was the river itself, full of crystal clear water with a rock-lined bottom. On the other side of the river, was a plain that continued until it met a set of mountains. To the North and South were the banks of the river, a wide open area that stretched into the distance. Finally, there was the only conceivable way for someone to sneak up on them, the forest to the front, and Naruto had taken care of that by placing clones transformed to look like ordinary rocks at random spots in a fifty-yard radius around camp. After the spot was chosen, and the defenses put in place, they set up the camp proper. The bed rolls were rolled out and put into place around a smokeless fire Sakura and Sasuki built out of carefully selected materials, and a small fire jutsu.

Naruto was sitting in front of the fire with his eyes closed. He was waiting for any information to arrive from his clones on lookout, and keeping an eye on the Demon Brothers, who were unconscious and tied to a tree on the edge of the camp. Naruto could suddenly feel someone looking at him.

"Is there something I can help you with, Mr. Tazuna?" he asked without turning around. Tazuna gasped in surprise.

"How did you know it was me?" questioned Tazuna in astonishment. Naruto scoffed at Tazuna's obliviousness.

"Sakura and Sasuki are out hunting for our dinner, and Kakashi is in a tree nearby reading his smut. That leaves only you," Naruto explained with a tiny trace of condescension. Luckily, Tazuna didn't pick up on it.

"Oh," the bridge builder said blankly. Naruto heard a rustle of cloth as Tazuna sat down across from him. There was silence. Naruto could tell the man wanted to ask him something, and he had a pretty good idea what. Finally, Tazuna broke his silence. "Tell me, why did you convince the others to continue the mission? I could tell that they were ready to end it. Your sensei wanted to follow protocol, and that pink-haired teammate of yours was uncertain until you spoke. And don't even get me started on that moody girl. I can tell she didn't give two shits about our country. So tell me, what makes you different?" Tazuna asked seriously.

Naruto frowned at the man's description of Sasuki, but couldn't really refute it. He wanted to defend her, explain what she had been through to become like that. But he knew it wasn't his place. Instead, he settled for answering the man's question.

"It's like I told Kakashi. It wouldn't be right to just let Gato run roughshod over your country. Don't get me wrong, I don't particularly care about you personally, at least, not beyond the mission. You should not have lied. The Hokage is a very reasonable man. He would have struck an agreement with you for some alternative form of compensation," Naruto said sternly. Tazuna's head dropped in shame. Naruto saw his look of remorse, and relented slightly. "Be that as it may, like I said, I know what kind of man Gato is." Naruto's eyes grew cold and he glared into the fire. "He is a man possessed by greed. His hunger for money is insatiable, and he will do anything to feed that hunger. Anyone who gets in his way is killed in the most brutal and humiliating manner he can think of. Gato is the worst kind of scum, and the world would be better off without his filth. Someone needs to deal with him, _permanently_ ," Naruto said darkly.

Tazuna shivered at his tone. He took an unsteady swig of alcohol to calm his nerves. "Ya know, for a kid so young, you sure seem comfortable with the idea of killing. It's pretty unnerving if ya ask me."

Naruto wore an emotionless. mask. His eyes were tracking the writhing tongues of flame in the fire. "Unlike my teammates, I've already killed. It was long ago in self-defense. I've had a lot of time to reconcile that part of shinobi life," he said softly.

After that they didn't speak anymore. Soon enough, Sakura and Sasuki had returned with several dead rabbits, and Naruto took the duty of cooking them. He deftly skinned and cleaned the rabbits, and then put them on spits to roast over the fire. Not long after he had begun to cook the meat, Naruto suddenly got a rush of memories from one of his outermost clones. His head suddenly snapped in the direction of the forest, and he stared into the trees intently. His teammates noticed his reaction, and tensed in preparation to defend themselves.

"What is it Naruto, did one of your clones see something?" Kakashi asked warily. Naruto nodded calmly.

"Yes, one of the clones furthest out spotted the Anbu team we sent for. There's four of them. They're being led by a cat-masked female Anbu with purple hair. They should be here in less than a minute," he replied. Everyone relaxed, and prepared to meet their visitors. _Kurama, can you sense anything from them? Anything that might suggest they're not Anbu?_

Inside his head, he heard a grunt. **_Can't you do anything by yourself brat?_** The fox groused. Nevertheless, he answered Naruto's question. **_There's no negative emotions coming from them, so I'd guess they're real._** Naruto nodded silently at the fox's assessment, and focused back on his team. While he had been conversing with Kurama, Kakashi stroked his chin in thought.

"Hmm, sounds like Yugao and her team. Good," said Kakashi, relieved.

True to Naruto's prediction, the four Anbu arrived in less than a minute. They first appeared as shadows flitting in-between the trees. When they alighted in the clearing, they landed swiftly and silently. The leader, Yugao, approached Kakashi and bowed her head respectfully.

Kakashi chuckled, and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "No need to bow to me Yugao. I'm no longer your captain. It's good to see you," he said.

Yugao straightened up and nodded. "It's good to see you too, captain." There was a hint of teasing in her voice. Kakashi gave her a disgruntled look, but otherwise ignored the jab.

While he was watching the byplay between Kakashi and his apparent former subordinate, Naruto noticed that in the background Yugao's team was securing the Demon Brothers. Yugao glanced back at the brothers as her subordinate's called out to her.

"Prisoners secured, ma'am," a rabbit masked Anbu said. Yugao nodded in acknowledgment.

"Very well, prepare to transport them, we'll be leaving momentarily," she commanded. The rabbit masked man nodded. Yugao turned back to Kakashi, pulled out a scroll from her pouch. "Lord Hokage received your request, and has agreed to allow you to continue the mission, with the condition that Mr. Tazuna reimburse the Leaf for the price of two A-rank missions, in compensation for his deception. You're allowed to do anything you deem necessary to protect Tazuna and the Land of Waves, including and up to removing Gato and his foothold in Wave. There are a few other things, but you'll find them all in the scroll," Yugao explained.

Kakashi took the scroll and nodded sedately. "I assume by 'remove', you mean assassinate Gato and his army of thugs?" he asked dryly. Yugao nodded. "Hmm, I don't have an issue with it, what about you, Mr. Tazuna?"

Tazuna nodded rapidly. He looked ecstatic, like he couldn't believe what was happening. "Yes, of course I'll agree. Any price is worth finally being out from under Gato's thumb," he agreed.

"Very well, I'll inform Lord Hokage of your agreement. I wish you all luck on your mission," said Yugao. She looked specifically at Naruto and his teammates. No doubt she was questioning why the Hokage was allowing them on such a dangerous mission. Naruto couldn't blame her. Yugao motioned to her team to move out, and just like they arrived, they left; silent, like shadows flitting amongst the trees.

Naruto returned to the fire, and finished cooking the rabbits. The meal was what you'd expect of a camp dinner. The food wasn't anything elaborate, but it was tasty and filling. After dinner they set up guard shifts. With Sakura settling in for her shift on guard duty, the rest of them went to bed.

 **— ₪** **NTUC ₪ —**

Naruto woke the team up as soon as he saw the sun began to rise.

Once everyone was awake, they quickly packed up and erased all signs of their presence there, and then departed. The closer they got to the ocean, the cooler the air got. By the time they had arrived at the shore where they were to meet their boatman, goose bumps had risen on Naruto's arms from the cold. He peered intently into the mist that hung over the water. Through the mist, he could make out the hazy form of a worn wooden skiff being rowed into shore. The man rowing was a rugged-looking middle aged man. He wore a hat similar to Tazuna. After the man beached the skiff on the shore, Tazuna went up and greeted him.

"Thank you for doing this, I know it's a risk," he said gratefully. The man nodded silently and motioned for them to get in the skiff. Everyone piled in quickly. The boatman used his oar to push the skiff off of the shore and into the gentle waters of the channel that separated the mainland from the Land of Waves. The tide was calm, and allowed the skiff to cleave through the water swiftly.

A hulking shape loomed in the mist ahead of them. It took Naruto a moment to realize what it was. Towering above them was a massive half-finished bridge made of concrete, bigger than any bridge he'd ever seen. A massive crane and skeletal platforms of scaffolding towered over it. They passed within an arm's reach of concrete pilings the thickness of a maple tree.

Their boatman guided the skiff through a stone-lined tunnel, and into a small harbor. When they exited the tunnel, the mist was clear for the first time that morning, and Naruto got his first look at the Land of Waves. There were several mangrove trees growing out of the sea water. The buildings looked worn down, with roofs made of rough wooden shingles, and their paint was faded. Their guide pulled up to a beat up dock next to a closed down shop, and let them off. Tazuna thanked the man once more, and then the boatman quickly hurried off. Once he was gone, Tazuna turned to them, and said gruffly, "Alright, my house is only about an hour's walk from here. I expect you to get me there safely."

Kakashi nodded in understanding. He took the lead, and led them into the forest outside of the apparently deserted town. Everything was fine for a little while. The sun was out and shining, but it was still cool. But Naruto noticed something strange.

The animals had stopped making noise. That put him on guard. Animals only went quiet in the presence of a predator. He surreptitiously looked at his surroundings. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw a movement. In a flash he had a kunai in his hand.

"What is it, did you see something?" Kakashi asked quickly. They had come to a standstill as the ninjas eyes began to dart about. Naruto shook his head.

"No, there's something . . . off," he replied.

Kakashi nodded in understanding, and put his book away. His eye traveled lazily around the clearing. It finally locked on to a bush on the left side of the path. With precision, he whipped out a kunai, and sent it hurtling into the bushes. They waited for something to happen. For a second, Naruto wondered whether he had imagined everything. That doubt died when a terrified white rabbit came racing out of the bushes a few tense moments later. Sakura and Sasuki began to relax their guards, but Naruto and Kakashi met each other's eyes.

"Kakashi," Naruto said in concern. The Jonin nodded. The rabbit was a snow hare; it's fur only turned white in winter. With it being late spring, there was only one reason a rabbit would have a coat like that still. It was raised inside.

"I know. Prepare yourselves we're about to—" Kakashi stopped abruptly and shouted, "GET DOWN!" They obeyed, and not a second too soon.

Just as they hit the deck, a massive cleaver sword came cutting through the air. The huge blade continued on over their heads and cleaved halfway through the trunk of a tree, before becoming stuck. A large black-haired man, with white bandages tied tightly around his lower face, appeared like a ghost, and landed softly on the swords long hilt. The man looked over his shoulder and glared at them with cold, menacing brown eyes. The four squiggly lines on his sideways forehead protector marked his allegiance. The long cloth of his headband fluttered in the breeze. His back, which was facing them, was bare save for a belt to strap his huge blade to. He wore pin-striped shinobi pants, with matching camouflage arm and leg warmers.

Naruto recognized the man immediately. He had been in the bingo books Gramps Sarutobi gave him for as long as he could remember. Kakashi strolled forward with his hands in his pockets. "Well, well. Zabuza Momochi. Missing ninja from the Mist," he said casually. Naruto tensed when he saw Kakashi reach for the headband pulled down over his left eye. "I suppose I'll need this if we'll be fighting you."

"Kakashi Hatake, of the Sharingan. Hand over the old man." Zabuza demanded. Sasuki tensed on the other side of Tazuna. Naruto could only imagine what was going through her head.

"Quick, manji formation! I want you to protect the bridge builder," Kakashi ordered them. The three genin quickly moved in front of Tazuna in a protective formation. Naruto gripped the hilt of Senbonzakura tightly in preparation to draw it.

Kakashi slowly pulled his forehead protector up onto his forehead, and opened his Sharingan eye. Zabuza saw the eye and turned to face them fully. "The Sharingan. I'll get to see it in battle. Its and honor."

Sakura gave Naruto and Sasuki a confused look. "The Sharingan is the bloodline of the Uchiha Clan, right?" Sasuki nodded sharply. Sakura stared at the back of Kakashi's head. "Then how come Sensei has one? And what exactly does it do?" Sasuki didn't answer. She still seemed too shocked by the revelation of Kakashi's Sharingan to speak, so Naruto answered for her.

"Kakashi's eye is implanted. As for what it does, the Sharingan allows the user to comprehend and copy any technique that they see their opponent use. But that's just what's commonly known, there's much more to its power than that," he explained. Zabuza looked at him appraisingly.

"That's right boy. That eye can perceive any technique, and then copy it perfectly," said Zabuza. "As for you, Kakashi, back in the Mist, we had orders to kill you on sight. Our bingo book said you were the man who copied a thousand jutsu. Kakashi, the Copy Ninja."

The two jonin stared each other down. Mist began to gather in the air once more. Slowly, killing intent began to leak from Zabuza. It washed over them in potent waves. Naruto easily shrugged it off. It was nothing compared to his grandfather, or Kurama for that matter. Sakura and Sasuki weren't so lucky. They began to sweat under the heavy pressure. "I think we've talked enough. You're obviously not going to give the old man up, so I'll kill you, and those brats. And then I'll take the bridge builders head"

Zabuza crouched down and ripped his sword from the tree. he vanished in a burst of speed, and reappeared on top of the water. His sword was strapped to his back, and his hands were held in to half ram seals, one at chest level, and one held above his head.

" **Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu!** " Zabuza cried.

 **— ₪** **NTUC ₪ —**

 **AN/ Well, another chapter down. So far I have a prologue done in my other story, and I'll start work on the first chapter. I'd hoped to be farther by now, but I've been having some issues with my wrist feeling weak, making it tough to type.**

 **Anyways, next time we'll see the fight between Team 7 and Zabuza.**

 **Next Time: Calm in the Face of a Demon, Zabuza's Folly!**

 **Well, that's all for now.**

 **So, til next time,**

 **RinneTaicho, Signing off!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Naruto: The Uchiha Chronicles**

 **AN/ Hey yo, so welcome back to yet another round of Naruto: The Uchiha Chronicles, and more importantly, the first brand new chapter in over a year and a half!**

 **So, this chapter we'll have the confrontation with Zabuza, and catch a glimpse of Naruto's skill with a sword.**

 **There's not really much else for me to say, so on with the chapter!**

Normal speech: "what"

Extremely loud group/single person shouting: "WHAT!"

Thoughts/Speech taken out of context: _'what'_

Letter/Book/Written text: ' _What'_

Demon/Summon speech: **"what"**

Demon/Summon thoughts: **_'what_**

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or Bleach, that honor belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and Tite Kubo respectively.

 **Arc III: Land of Waves Escort Mission:**

 **Chapter 8: Calm in the Face of a Demon, Zabuza's Folly!**

 **— ₪ NTUC ₪ —**

" **Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu!** " Zabuza cried. Mist began swirling on the water's surface. The pearly-white haze gathered and wrapped around him like a cloak, before it began to spread around them. An eerie quiet settled in the fogs wake as the forest animals stilled.

Naruto gripped the hilt of Senbonzakura. Beside him, he could feel Sakura shaking in fear. "S-sensei, who is this Zabuza guy?" She asked. Her voice was trembling as much as she was.

Kakashi looked about the thickening mist with narrow eyes. "He was the leader of the Hidden Mist's assassination unit before he became a missing ninja, and he is a master in their silent killing technique. By the time you realize he's attacking, you're already dead," he answered seriously. His back began to become more and more obscured to them in the haze.

"The mist is thickening," Naruto observed quietly. Tazuna tried to reassure him that that was just how it was in the Land of Waves, but Naruto shook his head at the explanation. "No. This is Zabuza's jutsu. He's making it so we can't see him," he explained, and Sakura's eyes widened in fear.

The mist soon thickened to the point that they couldn't even see Kakashi five feet in front of them. A dark chuckle filled the air. Zabuza's voice echoed all around them. "Hehehe, clever boy. Not that it matters. Did you know, there are eight points in the human body which will kill someone instantly? The larynx, the lungs, the spine, the liver, the jugular, the subclavian artery, the kidneys, and of course, the heart. Which of these points should I use to kill _you_?"

Killing intent washed over them in potent waves, and began to press down on them from all sides. Naruto tensed as he felt a large buildup of chakra, and prepared to draw his sword, only to stay his hand when he realized it was Kakashi.

The silver-haired jonin released his chakra in a pulse that cleared the mist around them.

Naruto felt a trickle of sweat on his forehead. The pressure of Kakashi's chakra, and Zabuza's killing intent, was intense.

Was this what it was like for two jonin to clash? It was enough to make even him slightly weary. _At least_ I'm _used to this_ , he thought, with a quick glance to Sakura and Sasuki. His teammates weren't so lucky. They were trembling in fear. He glanced to his left and saw the surprising sight of Sasuki with her eyes wide, and filled with an unusual amount of emotion. One emotion to be exact. Terror. He felt a spike of alarm when he saw her grip her kunai as if to stab herself. _She's not_ really _going to do it, is she?_ But her muscles tensed all the same, and before he could even register his arms movement, his hand shot out and gripped her wrist tightly.

Naruto met her shocked gaze and frowned. "Settle down. We can't afford a break down right now," he said sternly. The fear vanished from her eyes quickly, as if snapped from her shock. She snatched her arm back with an annoyed huff, and glared at him harshly.

"Tch, I wasn't going to break down, I don't need your help." She snapped. Naruto felt a rush of anger at her dismissal. While normally he wouldn't let it bother him—since he was used to her being surly—the tension of the situation had him on edge.

He opened his mouth to snap a retort, but Kakashi spoke up before he could/

"Both of you, quiet. This isn't the time for bickering. Just stay calm. There's nothing you need to worry about. Remember what I've taught you about teamwork. Protect the bridge builder, that's your mission. Handling Zabuza is _my_ job. Also—" Kakashi glanced back at them and his eye curled into a reassuring smile. "—know this. I won't allow any of you to die," He told them.

His words were like a bucket of cold water, that dowsed Naruto's anger and reminded him of the situation at hand. Naruto nodded in understanding, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. He needed to get a hold of himself.

Just as Naruto managed to calm his heart rate, it shot back up. A menacing voice spoke from behind him, and his eyes widened in shock.

"Teamwork, how useless. Teamwork won't stop you from dying!"

Naruto's breath caught in his throat. He whipped about just in time to see Zabuza spinning his massive cleaver sword over his head. The blade began to descend, and Naruto only had a split second to react. On instinct he began to draw Senbonzakura, though he fully expected it to be too slow. At the very least, he expected for Zabuza's strength to overwhelm him, since he hadn't had time to reinforce his strength with Kurama's chakra.

To his surprise, their blades met in a shower of sparks, and he managed to shrug Zabuza's massive sword to the side with relative ease. He stared into Zabuza's eyes in confusion. For his part, the missing ninja looked just as surprised.

How had he blocked the attack? Jonin like Zabuza and Kakashi had strength that he couldn't match without using Kurama's chakra. Naruto couldn't understand it; it didn't make sense.

While he and Zabuza were shocked, Kakashi had the presence of mind to take advantage of Zabuza's awkward position. He appeared in front of the assassin and plunged a kunai deep into the man's stomach.

Everyone stood still for a moment. For an instant, Naruto wondered if it was already over. That notion was driven from his mind when he saw the liquid trickling from Zabuza's wound. Instead of a crimson gush of blood, it was a clear stream of water that trickled from the wound.

Naruto was stunned for a moment. _A water clone?_ He only had a second to comprehend it, before he reacted on instinct and used his flash step to move backwards. When he reappeared ten feet away a millisecond later, he was greeted by a shocking sight. A second Zabuza had appeared behind Kakashi. His giant blade was raised high above his head.

"It's over!" Zabuza roared. Time seemed to slow to a crawl. The sword descended upon Kakashi like the axe of an executioner. Naruto felt his stomach lurch. He tried to give a last second warning to Kakashi. But he was too late. The sever-sword tore through his sensei's waist like it was butter.

He had to watch as his sensei was bifurcated by the sword. But something was off.

To Naruto's eternal relief it was not blood and guts that drenched the ground as the two halves of Kakashi's body separated. It was _water_. Kakashi had managed to copy Zabuza's water clone Jutsu in an instant, Naruto realized. He silently applauded the jonin's skill with the Sharingan. He used it better than some Uchiha had been able to over the years.

The real Kakashi appeared behind Zabuza and held a kunai to his jugular. "No, Zabuza, now it's over."

Zabuza, the hardened shinobi that he was, didn't even flinch as the blade was pressed against his jugular. He glanced back at Kakashi. "Tch, so you copied my jutsu even while you were speaking with those brats, very impressive copy ninja," He complimented.

Kakashi tightened his grip on the kunai. "Don't move," He growled. Zabuza simply chuckled. Naruto narrowed his eyes. Zabuza's demeanor set him on edge. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something about the way he spoke didn't seem quite right. He was far too cavalier for a man with a knife to his jugular, even if he was a hardened shinobi.

"Please, do you honestly think such a cheap trick would fool me?" Zabuza asked. Naruto's stomach sank, and Kakashi's eyes narrowed in suspicion. He flexed his hand and his knife made a slight cut on 'Zabuza's' neck. A tell-tale trickle of water was released. With a vicious yank Kakashi dispersed the clone, and then tried to turn to face the real Zabuza, who had appeared behind him.

He managed to duck under the first strike, causing Zabuza's sword to sail wide and became stuck in the ground. Zabuza wasn't deterred, though. The large man used the lengthy hilt of his sword as a prop and launched a devastating kick that launched Kakashi backwards towards the water. Kakashi flew through the air, and landed in the pond with a large— _splash_. Zabuza ripped his sword from the ground, releasing a shower of earth in its wake. He raced towards the water, with only a moments pause at the water's edge. To try and slow Zabuza down, Kakashi had thrown makibishi spikes on the ground. It didn't work.

Zabuza leapt into the air, and landed on the water's surface directly behind where Kakashi had surfaced.

"Fool," He sneered. Zabuza began to race through hand seals.

Kakashi tried to get out of the water, but he was a second too late.

Zabuza clapped his hands, and called, " **Water Prison Jutsu!** " Water arose from the pond, and formed a sphere. Kakashi was floating inside, suspended and unable to move anything below his neck. With his jutsu complete, Zabuza placed his right palm against the orb of water so he could maintain control over the technique.

He smirked at Kakashi maliciously, and said, "Don't bother trying to escape. This water is as hard as steel, there's nothing that can break it," Zabuza turned his attention towards them and Naruto tensed up. "Now just sit tight, Kakashi. I'll get to you later. First I think I'll make you watch while I kill these brats."

Naruto felt a bit of apprehension as Zabuza turned his gaze towards them. He was confident that one-on-one he could take Zabuza down, if he were to go all out. The problem was, it wasn't one-on-one, and he _couldn't_ go all out, at least not without revealing who he was. His Sharingan was one of the few aces he had completely hidden with which to take those hunting his tailed beast by surprise. Revealing it here was out of the question. So what could he do then? That only left Kurama's chakra, and even then, he had to worry about Zabuza taking his teammates by surprise. He could almost growl in frustration

Despite all that was going on in his head, Naruto didn't let any of it show on his face. Never show any emotion. That was one of the most important lessons his grandfather had taught him. So he stared coldly and determinedly, right into Zabuza's eyes.

Zabuza chuckled in amusement. "Oh, that look in your eyes. There's a lot of fight in you, isn't there boy?" he asked rhetorically. His chuckling ceased, and he leered at Naruto menacingly. "I can't wait to see that fight fade. You're slightly skilled, I'll give you that, but you're nowhere near my level kid," he said. Zabuza used his free hand to form a hand seal. From the water's edge, three new water clones began to emerge. After the clones were fully-formed, they stepped forward, and stood in an intimidating line on the shore.

"You think wearing a headband makes you worthy of calling yourself a ninja? That it makes you capable of fighting _me_?" Zabuza asked. He snorted humorlessly. "Don't make me laugh boy. When you've hovered between life and death enough times that it doesn't affect you in the least, then I might call you a ninja. If you become so strong a profile is created for you in my bingo book, then I _might_ call you a ninja," Zabuza glared at them viciously. "But to call a bunch of jumped-up brats like _you_ ninja, is a joke!" The mist thickened once more, and wrapped Zabuza's clones in its embrace.

As soon as Naruto saw the clones disappear, he instantly began to try and come up with a plan to deal with them. He didn't have much time to think before one of them suddenly appeared before him. The clone tried to land a devastating blow with his elbow, but Naruto dodged nimbly to the side and lashed out with his sword. Senbonzakura sliced through the clone's side, and caused it to disperse into a puddle.

Naruto paused for a moment, to try and assess the situation. That turned out to be a mistake.

 ** _Duck!_**

Kurama's warning was the only thing that saved Naruto from having his head lopped off. He dropped onto his haunches just in time to avoid another clones blade. The sword cut through the air just above his head, and sailed wide. With the clone's guard wide open, Naruto took advantage. He rose to his feet and bisected the clone from crotch to throat. There was no time to rest, though. His attention was quickly drawn to a sharp cry of pain from where his teammates were.

The third Zabuza clone had attacked his teammates while he fought the other two. It had Sakura pinned to the ground with its foot on her throat, and Tazuna had stumbled back in terror and fallen on his rear. Naruto briefly wondered where Sasuki was. He worried that Zabuza might have already managed kill her. But his concern was shoved to the back of his mind when he saw the clone preparing to finish Sakura off.

 _Oh no you don't!_ Naruto made to flash step to dispense of the clone, but he was beaten to the punch. A person darted up to the clone from behind and leapt on its back. There was a brief struggle as the clone tried to shake its attacker off. A glimpse of blue-tinted raven hair he would recognize anywhere caused Naruto's spirits to rise. _Sasuki! Good, she's okay._ Naruto caught a glint of metal as she plunged a kunai deep into the clone's temple.

Sasuki leapt backwards and stood panting lightly. She glared at the puddle of water that used to be Zabuza's clone. Judging from the bruise that was beginning to form on her jaw, Naruto assumed that the clone had hit her first and then moved on to Sakura.

Whatever the case was, Naruto was relieved to have the final clone defeated. He was also glad for the information provided by this last kill. It revealed a potential flaw in the Water Clone Jutsu, which was a closely guarded technique of the Mist's. Although Sasuki was indeed strong for a genin, she was no match for a jonin like Zabuza. It confirmed what he had noticed before. The clones were unusually weak and slow. Naruto was beginning to suspect that, unlike shadow clones, water clones held only a fraction of the strength and speed of the original. Though they _did_ have the advantage of being more durable.

Zabuza's voice echoed eerily through the mist after his clone was dispatched. "So, you managed to take down three of my clones. I guess you brats are a bit more skilled than I thought. It doesn't matter really though. I can make as many more clones as I want," he taunted them. An uncomfortable feeling settled over Team 7.

Questions of how many clones there were, and _where_ they were, plagued Naruto's mind. Finally growing sick of Zabuza's mind games, Naruto decided to do something about the mist obscuring their vision. He performed a quick series of hand seals, and then inhaled deeply.

" **Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!** " A fierce gust was released from Naruto's mouth. The wind swept the mist away like a fan dispelling steam. In its wake he could see just what Zabuza had been cooking up.

The man stood with their sensei trapped inside the water prison. The ponds shore was dotted with clones everywhere. _One, two, three . . . he's made fifteen clones._ Naruto stared the clones down.

His mind worked furiously to come up with a way to defeat them. He now knew that they weren't as fast or strong as the original, so he had the edge in that regard. He wouldn't be able to attack them with wide range jutsu; they would just block or dodge. That meant he'd have to use a quick and precise attack, to take them down before they could react. _There's no use for it. I'll have to use the flash step at its peak. Kurama, I might need some chakra for this . . ._

Before the fox could reply, the aggravated voice of his sensei cut through his scheming. "What do you all think you're doing. You're no match for Zabuza!" He yelled Kakashi locked eyes with Naruto, an unusually serious edge to it. "His clones can't move far from his body. Take the bridge builder, and run!" He ordered

While he filed the bit about the clones away for later. Naruto scoffed at Kakashi's order. He narrowed his eyes at his sensei. "Please, even if I was willing to just give up and abandon you, which I'm not; it would do no good," Naruto steadfastly ignored the disbelieving exclamation from his sensei, and continued. "All Zabuza has to do is finish you off, and then he can follow us and finish the job. No, our only choice is to stop him right here."

His sensei growled, and looked at him in disbelief. Zabuza, on the other hand, looked at him curiously. "Oh, you make it sound like you plan on fighting back. Tell me boy, do you really think you're a match for my clones?" He asked.

Naruto smirked confidently. "Try? I'm not going to _try_ to defeat them, I _will_ defeat them," He replied. His words seemed to set Zabuza on edge. The clones all tensed up, and looked as if they would attack. He tensed up his muscles as well. _Kurama, chakra, now._

Although he didn't hear a response from Kurama, he felt the chakra begin to fill his body. Its power suffused his muscles, an intoxicating feeling of might, and aggression. Naruto locked eyes with his teammates. "You guys protect Tazuna. If any of the clones get past, you'll be responsible for taking them down." He ordered.

He didn't give them a chance to reply. As soon as he'd given his order, he tensed his leg muscles. His eyes closed, and he took a second to gather his concentration. His eyes snapped open and he shot off. Subtly, he unleashed a magnetic wave that forced the massive swords the clones were using to fly backwards. The clones were just barely able to maintain their grips on their weapons, but the wave fulfilled its purpose in putting them off-balance.

The feeling of the flash step was exhilarating. It was like he was the only one moving, and time had stopped for everything else. In less than a hundredth of a second, he was on the first off-balance clone, who barely had time to comprehend that he had moved. With a savage slash he cut its throat, and then moved to the next. The clone managed recover its stance to make a clumsy block, but he twirled around it, and stabbed it through the heart with his back to it. The next few seconds were a blur, flashes of metal and bursts of water filled the air as he systematically dissected five more clones. Without the speed of the original, they were helpless.

Within ten seconds, there were only five clones left, all grouped together in a circle. By now Naruto could feel the strain his jutsu was putting on his body. _Looks like I don't have much longer before I need to stop the jutsu._ He had to end it fast. In one last burst of speed, he appeared in the midst of the clones, and decapitated them all with one last sweep of his sword.

Naruto stood in place, his breath heaving harshly as his heart thundered in his chest to try and pump the blood through his body. He could feel the intense heat of his muscles, worked to exhaustion, as well as the delightfully cool sensation of the water that had formed the clones dripping from his body.

He glared at Zabuza coldly, and directed all of his intent to kill onto him as he had been shown by his grandfather. The corner of his lip twitched as he saw the wide eyed expression Zabuza was giving him.

"You seem shocked. I don't know why. While those clones may be useful, they only possess a fraction of the power of the user. Now, I think it's about time you release my sensei."

For a moment, everything was quiet. After a moment, he saw Zabuza's shoulders begin to shake. For one crazy second, Naruto thought it might be fear. But then the shaking increased. Zabuza threw his head back, and began to roar in laughter.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" He roared. "Oh, I knew there was something I liked about you, boy." Zabuza's laughter faded, and he fixed Naruto with an intense stare, a gleam of hunger in his eyes. The hunger for battle. "Yes indeed, I was wrong about you. I can tell from your eyes, the sheer intent to kill me. You know what it is to take a life, don't you boy?" He asked. The narrowing of his eyes was all Zabuza needed to know his answer. "I thought so. You're the real deal, a true manslayer. It's a shame you weren't born in the Mist, with those swords skills, and that attitude, you would've been a prime candidate to inherit one of the Seven Swords."

While most would have been flattered by the comment, Naruto simply shook his head. "You're wrong about that," He said. "I would never deign to use a blade inferior to Senbonzakura, not even one of the Seven Swords of the Mist." He replied.

"What was that?" Zabuza growled, his eyes narrowed dangerously.

Naruto didn't pay it any mind, though. Instead, he directed his attention to the Water Prison, a slight frown on his lips. Now that he had the clones out of the way, he had to force Zabuza to release the jutsu before he could create anymore. To that end, he began to focus chakra into his fingers.

"Now, I believe I told you to release my sensei. If you won't do it willingly, I'm afraid I'll have to force you." Naruto said calmly. He raised his right hand, and pointed it at Zabuza. This attack was risky. It was a new one of his own creation, and he hadn't had time to work out all the kinks. He didn't have a choice right now, though. Blue lightning began to crackle ominously in his palm. Naruto could feel the deadening sensation of the lightning surging through his arm. He had yet to learn lightning manipulation, and it made the effects of using this jutsu intense. Still, he ignored it, and unleashed the jutsu. " **Byakurai!** "

A wide beam of destruction was unleashed, with the intent to force Zabuza to release his grip on the prison; or allow nearly his entire torso to be obliterated. Either one was good with Naruto.

In the wake of his jutsu, Naruto found that he couldn't move his arm at all. As a matter of fact, the entire right side of his body felt stiff. Combined with the way all the muscles in his body were aching, he figured he was pretty much spent in this fight. The only reason he was still standing was because Kurama was constantly feeding him chakra, which helped speed his recovery. It didn't matter, though. The plan had worked to perfection. As soon as Zabuza saw the scale of the jutsu coming at him, he let go of the water prison and threw himself to the side, several yards wide of the jutsu. The water that had been holding Kakashi collapsed and dropped the man into the water. It was just in time, too, as at that moment the lightning jutsu passed harmlessly over his head. The beam continued over the water, and to the other side of the shore, and obliterated several trees in its path.

Kakashi pulled himself out of the water, using his chakra to stick to the surface, and stood there panting. "Well, that certainly was effective," He said as he gave Naruto and his teammates one of his eye-smiles. "Good job team, although you _did_ disobey my orders." His tone turned slightly harsh, but it was gone just as soon as it appeared. Kakashi shrugged his shoulders. "Oh well, what's done is done." He then turned to Zabuza, who was back on his feet, and glaring at all of them. "As for you, the same trick won't work on me twice. Now let's finish this."

Zabuza scoffed, and widened his stance. "Tch, you talk too much." He said, as he brought his hands up. In a blur of motion, he began going through hand seals, which Kakashi began to mimic.

The two jonin performed a complex chain of hand seals, more than Naruto had ever seen used. As the men performed their hand seals, they chanted in sync with their motions. "Ushi, Saru, U, Ne, I, Tori, Ushi . . ." For nearly half a minute they performed hand seals, thirty-two in all. Finally, they ended on the bird seal, and both men called the name of their technique. " **Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!** "

Water began to churn on the surface of the pond. It twisted and writhed, and rose into the air to form two massive serpent-like dragons made of water, with piercing yellow eyes. The two dragons wound through the air, intertwining their bodies. Suddenly, the dragons lunged at each other, snapping and biting. The motion the large beasts caused as they battled formed a large wave of water, that washed over the battle field, and threatened to throw Naruto and his teammates off their feet. Finally, one of the dragons managed to grab hold of the other, an action quickly reciprocated by the other dragon. The dragons tore each other apart, causing water to rain down on everyone.

Naruto narrowed his eyes. What Kakashi just did . . . should not have been possible. The Sharingan granted the user the ability to perceive and copy nearly any jutsu, but it couldn't let the user perform simultaneously with the person they were copying. _Something, is off here._

From the shore, he watched as the two jonin began to circle each other, and he immediately noticed something. Every time Zabuza moved, Kakashi mirrored him exactly. Or at least, that's the way it seemed.

"Amazing, he's not just copying him, he's moving at the exact same time in the exact same way!" Tazuna exclaimed.

To the side, Sakura nodded in agreement. "Sasuki, how is he doing that?" She asked in disbelief. From the look of it, Sasuki was just as confused.

"He's not copying him." Naruto said. Now Kakashi was playing a game of cat and mouse with Zabuza, messing with his mind as he did everything he did, right down to speaking.

"What do you mean he's not copying him?" Sasuki asked.

"I mean he's not using the mirror eye; he's using the illusion eye." He explained. Sasuki's eyes widened.

"You mean?"

Naruto nodded. "Exactly. Kakashi has Zabuza in a genjutsu. He's making him think that his actions are his own, when really Kakashi _telling_ him what to do. That makes it look like Kakashi is copying him, when in reality, he's controlling him."

As they spoke, both jonin had begun another chain of hands seals. This time, though, something was Kakashi was moving just a bit faster than Zabuza. As a result, he finished his jutsu before Zabuza could complete his own. Kakashi ended on the bird seal, and cried. " **Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu!** "

Once again, water began to rise, but this time it formed a large vortex of water in front of Kakashi. The vortex grew and suddenly surged forth in a deluge of water, the pressure so immense it easily swept Zabuza away with the force of a waterfall.

In the wake of the vortex, water was pushed up over the sides of the pond and slammed into them. Naruto could feel the water trying to sweep him away. He decided not to stick to the ground with chakra, seven though that was his first instinct. That could possibly get him injured if anything were to be swept along in the current. Instead, he allowed the water to sweep him away, and used his chakra to lift him to the surface. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Sasuki and Sakura doing the same, with Sakura keeping Tazuna above the water.

With their stability secured, Naruto focused his attention towards the fight as their momentum began to slow to a halt.

The water jutsu was tearing up the landscape, digging a trench in the ground. Kakashi had let it sweep him forward, and was riding the waves momentum similar to them. Zabuza, on the other hand, was nowhere in sight. Never one to let his guard down, Naruto kept his eyes out for the man.

For a second, he thought he felt a new chakra signature nearby, but it was so small, and disappeared so fast, that he dismissed it as maybe being an animal, and continued to search for Zabuza.

A few seconds later he caught a glimpse silver inside the water. Zabuza was being tumbled about in the current, unable to stop his movement. His movement was stopped for him, though, when the vortex slammed him bodily into the trunk of a rather sturdy looking tree. The water kept him pinned against the tree as it rushed by. Eventually the force of the water died down and it began to recede. With the water no longer holding him up Zabuza slumped to the ground. He struggled to rise to his feet, without much luck.

Just before the last of the wave's momentum died, Kakashi leapt into the air. While Zabuza tried to get to his feet, Kakashi pulled out four kunai, and let them fly. They were right on target. The kunai pierced Zabuza's limbs, and pinned him to the tree.

With Zabuza subdued, Kakashi summersaulted through the air and alighted upon one of the limbs of the tree Zabuza was pinned to.

"H-how? Can you see the future?" Zabuza asked, a painful wheeze in his voice. From the sound of, Naruto thought it was likely he had cracked a rib. Not surprising considering how hard he had it the tree.

From his perch, Kakashi looked at Zabuza with a dangerous gleam in his eyes. He drew a kunai from his thigh holster, and held it in a reverse grip.

"Yes. And this is your last battle." Kakashi answered, a touch of menace in his voice.

Naruto was so focused on Zabuza and Kakashi, that he almost missed the flash of silver at the edge of his vision. As soon as he saw it, his body tensed, and he focused on the two senbon needles hurtling through the air. To his surprise, they weren't headed for Kakashi, or any of them, but rather, towards Zabuza.

With a small— _shlick_ —the needles pierced his neck, and released a gout of blood. Zabuza's body fell forward onto the ground, dead.

Nobody seemed to know how to react to Zabuza's demise. It was so sudden, and so shocking, that Naruto couldn't quite comprehend it. Though he quickly snapped out of it. His head whipped towards the source of the senbon. Standing on a tree branch off to the side, was a person wearing the mask of a Hidden Mist tracker ninja, a white mask with slit eyes, and the symbol of the Hidden Mist carved into the forehead. This particular mask had red wave-like markings on the lower part of the face. It was impossible to tell whether they were male or female, but whoever they were, they were short, shorter than him even. Their black hair was bound in a white bun holder, except for two long bangs that framed their face, and they wore the traditional pin-striped uniform of the Mist, with a green haori over it.

"You were right; it was his last battle." They said. From the voice, Naruto guessed it was a boy, though it was hard to tell. The voice was so quiet and restrained, it really could be a girl. One thing was for certain, he wasn't much older than Naruto.

With a grim look, Kakashi landed in a crouch next to Zabuza's body, and placed his fingers at the man's neck. Naruto really didn't have to ask to know what Kakashi would say, but he did anyways.

"Well?" He asked.

Kakashi shook his head. "No pulse. He's dead." The silver-haired man turned his gaze to the tracker ninja.

"Thank you, I've been hunting him for quite a while. Your battle gave me just the opportunity to kill him." The ninja said with a bow of his head.

"Judging from that mask, I'm betting you're a tracker ninja from the Hidden Mist." Kakashi replied.

The tracker ninja nodded. "I am. You're well informed."

Kakashi stood up, and let out a sigh. "Well, I guess there's nothing for it. Our job here is done. We'll let you go about your business." He said, as he began walking towards where Naruto and the others stood.

"Huh, just like that? It's over?" Sakura asked in disbelief.

Naruto watched grimly as the boy disappeared in a gust of wind, and reappeared next to Zabuza's body. He heard Sakura's question, and nodded. "What else is there? Our enemy is dead. There's no point in remaining here." He said.

The ninja, who now had Zabuza slung over his shoulder, gave them all one last bow of the head. "Once again, I thank you for the assistance. Now if you'll excuse me, I must get to work disposing of the body."

A small gust of wind was the only sign of his departure. One second he was there, and the next he was gone.

"Well, we better get going. Mr. Tazuna, please lead the way." Kakashi ordered.

Naruto continued to look to where the tracker ninja had disappeared as Kakashi passed him. Something felt . . . off, about it. He couldn't quite put his finger on it. _Kurama, did you sense anything from that guy?_

 ** _No, I didn't. It's surprising actually. Either that guy has no emotions, or even more unlikely, he didn't bear even the slightest of ill feelings, even to Zabuza._** The fox replied.

 _Hmm, that_ is _strange._ Naruto hummed in thought. His suspicions ground to a halt, as he suddenly heard a thump behind him.

Naruto spun around, and saw Kakashi lying face down in the dirt. He looked to his teammates in confusion. "What happened?"

For their part, Sakura and Sasuki looked just as confused as he felt. "I don't know," Said Sasuki. She frowned. "One second he was walking, and the next he just collapsed." She told him.

His eyes narrowed. Naruto shuffled over to Kakashi, and despite the pain it caused, knelt beside Kakashi. He used his functioning left arm to check Kakashi's pulse. To his relief, it was strong. _Hmm, I wonder._ The next thing he did was use his sensing to check his reserves. "Hmm, it looks like he's just passed out. His chakra reserves seem pretty low." Naruto said. "It's probably chakra exhaustion from using that eye."

Naruto looked up, and met his teammates eyes. "Come on, I'll carry him. Sakura can check him over when we get to Tazuna's, but we shouldn't stay out in the open." He ordered.

"Hn, who made you leader?" Sasuki asked, though she got into formation to protect Tazuna. Naruto ignored her though. He knew it was just her being moody.

With his one good arm, Naruto slung Kakashi's arm around his neck. _This isn't going to be pleasant._ Naruto channeled a bit more of Kurama's chakra, so he could withstand the pain and be able to carry Kakashi. With a large heave, he lifted Kakashi onto his shoulders, and stood up. He couldn't help but let loose a grunt of pain.

"Hey, are you alright?" Sakura asked. There was a look of concern on her face, and her eyes were locked onto his right arm hanging loose at his side. "What happened to your arm?"

"It's nothing," Naruto assured her. "Simply a side-effect of using so much lightning chakra. A day's rest and I'll be fine." He told her.

Sakura nodded her head uncertainly. Clearly, she still had reservations.

"Are you sure you can handle him?" Tazuna asked.

Naruto nodded. "Yes, now lead the way." He replied resolutely.

The journey to Tazuna's house was, thankfully, uneventful. Along the way, Naruto couldn't help but wonder what else this mission would bring. It had already been plenty eventful for what was supposed to be a routine C-rank mission.

 **— ₪ NTUC ₪ —**

 **AN/ Alright, another chapter down, and this one is finally finished. Hard to believe I started it nearly a year and a half ago. Next up, we'll be seeing the fallout of the battle, and the training that ensues.**

 **Well, I don't have much to say, except for have a nice day.**

 **That's all for now.**

 **So, til next time,**

 **RinneTaicho, Signing off!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Naruto: The Uchiha Chronicles**

 **AN/ So here we are, another chapter on tap. Today we see how team 7 reacts to Zabuza being alive, as well as how they plan and prepare.**

 **After this chapter, I'll have one more for this story to almost end off this arc, before moving on to my next story. I might decide to write an eleventh chapter to this to just end off the arc. We'll see.**

 **So without further ado, on with the chapter!**

Normal speech: "what"

Extremely loud group/single person shouting: "WHAT!"

Thoughts/Speech taken out of context: _'what'_

Letter/Book/Written text: ' _What'_

Demon/Summon speech: **"what"**

Demon/Summon thoughts: **_'what_**

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or Bleach, that honor belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and Tite Kubo respectively.

 **Arc III: Land of Waves Escort Mission:**

 **Chapter 9: Plan and Train, Preparation for Battle!**

 **— ₪** **NTUC ₪ —**

Naruto was woken up by a shaft of sunlight coming in through the window. He let loose a groan of annoyance. Stupid sun. Wait . . . the sun? There was no sunlight in the grotto. Groggily, he opened his eyes, and found himself in an unfamiliar room. He was laying on a futon; the ceiling above him was covered in worn wooden paneling, the same for the walls and the floor. The room was clearly worn down but was well taken care of. For a moment Naruto wasn't sure where he was. How had he gotten here? Then he remembered. He was in Tazuna's house. After the battle with Zabuza was over, they had made their way to Tazuna's. The last thing he could remember was getting Kakashi settled into bed; and then everything went black.

 _I must have passed out. The other's probably put me in here._ Naruto sighed. He'd really overdone it yesterday. If he had been alone, he would've been screwed. An experimental flex of his fingers told him that his arm was working again, even if it was a bit stiff. Yesterday when he had told Sakura that his arm would be fine in a day, he hadn't been lying. He did downplay the damage, though. Most of the nerves in his arm had been completely shot. That wasn't even mentioning the muscle damage that had been done.

Naruto sat up with a grunt. His body was stiff from yesterday, but after a bit of movement he would be fine. He pushed himself up and to his feet, before stretching his arms above his head and letting loose a yawn. "Aaaaah. I better go find the others." He muttered to himself.

Upon exiting the room, he could tell from his vague memories of last night that he was on the second floor. Kakashi's room was down the hall, right next to the stairs. Even though he was sure the man would wake up soon, Naruto made sure to keep his footsteps silent as he passed the room Kakashi was in.

He paused for a moment at the top of the stairs to listen to the voices coming up from below. From the sound of it, most of the people in the house were there.. _No time like the present._

Naruto made his way downstairs, where he found Tazuna, Sakura, and Sasuki sitting around a low table. He took note of the small boy and the black-haired woman sitting with them. Judging from the similarities in appearance, they were probably mother and son.

The bottom step creaked as he stepped on it, drawing the attention of the people around the table.

As soon as she saw him, Sakura's face lit up. "Naruto, you're awake! We were so worried when you collapsed last night." She exclaimed.

Naruto rose an eyebrow, and turned his eyes to Sasuki. She didn't show as much emotion as Sakura, but he could see the worry in her eyes.

"Sorry about that. I was pretty tired from the fight. That speed jutsu I use puts a big strain on me. I'm fine now, though." He replied.

"Alright, well come have a seat. We saved you a spot next to Sasuki." Said Sakura. Naruto nodded, and took his place at the table. As he did, Sasuki glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes.

It looked as if she was struggling with whether to say something. "I'm glad you're alright." She finally whispered, too quiet for anyone but him to hear. He acknowledged her words with a nod, so as not to draw any attention to her.

"So, has Kakashi woken up yet?" He asked the group.

The black-haired woman across from him shook her head. "No, he hasn't. But when he does I'm going to give him a piece of my mind. He's setting a bad example, overexerting himself like that."

Naruto wisely chose to remain silent. Truth be told, he didn't get his habit of pushing himself from Kakashi. Though he did look at her and her son quizzically. He had yet to hear their names.

As if she had heard his thoughts, Sakura motioned to the woman. "This here is Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter. She's the one who set up the room for you last night. And that there is her son Inari." She explained.

"It's nice to meet you. Thank you for taking care of me" Naruto greeted, with a slight bow of his head.

Tsunami waved off his thanks.

"Please, it was the least I could do. You protected my father. Why don't you stay there and I'll get you some food. The rest of us have already eaten." She said.

Naruto nodded with a rare smile. After he had eaten, they sat around the table talking. He spent the time grilling Tazuna for details about Gato, such as how many thugs he had on his payroll. Around midday, Kakashi finally woke up. Naruto and his teammates gathered around their sensei's bed as Tsunami prepared some food for him.

"You know Kakashi-sensei, that eye of yours is amazing; but if it does this to you, I don't think it's worth it. You can barely move!" Sakura chastised him.

Kakashi chuckled, and his eye curled in one of his special smiles. Naruto had a distinct feeling that if he was able, the man would be rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Eh, you may have a point. But I didn't have a choice. Zabuza was a strong opponent. If I hadn't given it my all, we might not have won." Replied Kakashi.

Sakura nodded reluctantly. "I guess you're right. But at least he's gone now. That hunter ninja killed him, and took his body."

Her words stirred something in Naruto. He thought back to the battle, and how Zabuza had been killed. The way he had struck him through the neck was quite impressive. Though it was a little odd. _It's weird. It's really hard to kill someone with senbon. Not to mention he took the body away. Hunter ninja are supposed to destroy the body on the spot._

The more he thought about it, the more unsettled Naruto felt. From the look in Kakashi's eye, he could tell the wheels were turning in his head as well.

Suddenly, Kakashi sat up with his eye stretched wide. "How could I have been so foolish. The hunter took the body" He growled.

Naruto snapped his gaze to Kakashi. He could tell what he was thinking. "Kakashi-sensei, you don't think . . ."

Kakashi nodded grimly, and he felt like cursing. "So Zabuza is still alive. Damn." Naruto cursed.

Sakura looked at them in shock. "Wh-what do you mean, the hunter ninja killed Zabuza. Kakashi-sensei, you said it yourself, Zabuza had no pulse." She said.

From her place against the wall, Sasuki spoke up for the first time.

"The hunter used senbon. It's hard to kill someone with those, not without hitting an organ. But they are perfect if you want to put someone in a deathlike state. There are several nerves in the neck that make that possible." She said.

Kakashi nodded grimly. "Yes. Zabuza is still out there; and he'll be back. And no doubt that hunter ninja will be with him."

In the wake of that statement, everyone was silent. They sat there in contemplation. Finally, Naruto couldn't take the silence.

"So, what now? We could try to take out Gato while Zabuza is down." He suggested, drawing curious stares. "If we kill his employer and there's no chance of getting payed, Zabuza would have no reason to complete his mission." He explained.

Kakashi nodded in agreement. "Yes, that is an option. Although, I'd prefer if we had a little more preparation first." He said.

"Like what?" Sasuki asked.

"I want to go to the next step in your training. Each of you have advanced far, but I have an idea for training that could help you increase the power of your jutsu. We'll begin tomorrow." He answered.

Soon enough, Tsunami arrived with his food, and Naruto and his teammates left so he could eat in piece. Naruto spent the rest of the day resting, and wondering what Kakashi had in store for them.

 **— ₪ NTUC ₪ —**

The next morning, Kakashi took them out to a clearing near Tazuna's house. The clearing was surrounded on all sides by towering trees, remarkably similar to the ones they had in the Leaf. From the sound of running water, Naruto assumed that there was a river of some sorts just on the other side of the river. The most noticeable thing, or things, as it were, were the three giant piles of leaves up around the edges of the clearing, spaced apart evenly in a triangle formation.

He'd seen something like it before, when his grandfather was teaching him elemental manipulation.

"Sensei, what's with the leaves?" Sakura asked in confusion.

Kakashi—who was leaning on a crutch to help him walk—hobbled over to the leaves, and snatched one up. Luckily they were piled higher than his waist, so he didn't have to bend down to get it.

"The leaves, Sakura, are for your training." He said. "You've already learned the tree and water walking exercises, so you have the minimum chakra control needed to begin this exercise. Generally, I'd want you to have a bit more experience with a few higher-level exercises, but the control you have now is good enough to begin this training."

"And what _is_ this training?" Sasuki asked, her arms crossed, a scowl on her face. No doubt she was annoyed at the fact Kakashi was beating around the bush.

Kakashi chuckled at her demeanor. "What I'm going to teach you is the first step in an advanced form of chakra control, which will allow you to mold and define the nature of your chakra; in other words, adding an element to your chakra. If you're able to complete even part of the training, it will increase the power and control of any elemental techniques you know." He explained. "Now, I'm going to create a couple clones, and each of us will take one of you to the side to use one of these," Kakashi reached into his equipment pouch, and brought out three pieces of familiar looking paper. "Pieces of litmus paper to determine what your elemental affinities are, that is, the element, or—as the case may be— _elements_ , your chakra is predisposed to. After that we'll teach you how to perform the exercise."

As it turned out, Naruto ended up getting the original Kakashi helping him. While his clones went to help Sakura and Sasuki, Kakashi pulled Naruto to the side. Once they were alone, Kakashi gave him a serious look.

"I want you to know, there's more than one reason I chose this method of training. Sakura told me what happened in the battle with Zabuza, with your arm seizing up from your Byakurai jutsu." He said seriously. "You didn't look too surprised when I brought out the litmus paper. Tell me, you've already had some nature transformation training, haven't you?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto nodded. "Yes, I have." He answered, confused by what Kakashi was getting at.

Kakashi's eye narrowed. "But not for lightning I take it?" He persisted. Naruto's stomach dropped. He was beginning to realize what Kakashi was getting at. Reluctantly, he nodded once more. The serious look in Kakashi's eye became as close to furious as Naruto had ever seen. "You've had nature transformation training, so you must know how dangerous it is to try and control an element with no hand signs if you haven't trained to control it. We both know the only reason you didn't do permanent damage to yourself is because of the tailed beast sealed inside of you."

Naruto looked at Kakashi with wide eyes. Nobody had ever mentioned the fact he had Kurama sealed in him before; they were too afraid of the Hokage's law.

"Don't look so surprised. The Hokage informed me you knew of the Nine-Tails when I took this team. I figured I'd skip the beating around the bush, and get to the reason why you thought you could get away with such reckless behavior." Kakashi told him. "In any other situation, you could very well get yourself and your teammates killed doing something like that. Don't do it again." His eye was locked on Naruto, imparting the seriousness of the situation. Finally,

Kakashi closed his eye, and took a calming breath. When he opened it, he was back to his usual laidback look. "Now that we understand each other, let's get to the training. First, even though I'm sure you know them, we'll check your affinities."

Kakashi led him back to the clearing, and then handed Naruto a piece of litmus paper, and looked at him expectantly. With a resigned sigh, he took the paper and channeled his chakra into it. The results were instant. First, the paper split in half Then one half burst into flames, while the other crumbled into dirt at the edges.

"Hmm, a dual primary affinity to wind and fire, and a weaker affinity to earth." Kakashi mused. "How much nature transformation training have you done?" He asked.

"I've completed the training for wind and fire." Naruto answered. Kakashi hummed in thought.

"Very well, let's start you on lightning then, even if it's not one of your initial elements. Your objective is to cause the leaf to shrivel up by pulsing electricity through it. To change the nature of your chakra to lightning, you need to envision your chakra vibrating at an extremely high frequency." Kakashi instructed.

Naruto nodded in understanding. He automatically placed his hands into the crossed-shaped seal of the shadow clone jutsu.

"What are you doing?" Kakashi asked quizzically. Naruto rose an eyebrow.

"Training. The clones give me their memories, so I can increase my training exponentially." He told him.

Kakashi's eye widened. "I've never heard of someone training that way, but it sounds interesting. Very well, carry on. Depending on how this works, I might use this method with the others."

Naruto shrugged, and proceeded to create fifty shadow clones. The clones and the original quickly got to training, losing themselves in the repetitiveness of it.

 **— ₪ NTUC ₪ —**

Three days after they began their training, Naruto sat with his team around the dinner table. All of them were worn out from their training, especially Sakura. After he had seen how effective Naruto's method of training was the first day, Kakashi took the time to teach Sasuki and Sakura the Shadow Clone jutsu, so they could use it to increase their training. While neither could make anywhere near as him—with Sasuki managing a surprising seven, and Sakura two—it had still noticeably sped up their progress with the leaf.

As Tsunami brought their dinner into the dining room, Sakura was barely sitting upright. She would probably go to bed as soon as she finished.

Half-way through his first helping of rice and fish, Naruto noticed Inari glaring at them across the table. He disregarded it at first; it wasn't the first time he noticed the boy giving them dirty looks. Naruto wasn't sure why the boy disliked them, nor did he particularly care why. He usually just ignored it in favor of eating Tsunami's food. The woman was a genius at making delicious meals from minimal ingredients.

This dinner, however, was different from the previous two. For whatever reason, that day Inari decided to speak up.

Naruto heard Inari mumble something quietly; all he could make out was "Why?". It was so quiet Naruto almost missed it.

"Pardon?" Naruto asked, more to be polite than anything.

Inari spoke up, loud enough for everyone to hear. "I said why are you all bothering to train so hard?" He asked. "It's not like it's going to make a difference; you can't beat Gato!"

"Inari, apologize!" Tsunami exclaimed.

"But Mom, they're all going to die!" He whined.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the boy. "Us, die? From that fat little midget? Don't make me laugh." He scoffed.

Inari fixed him with a harsh glare. "It's easy for you to talk big; you don't know what Gato's done to this country. You people don't have any idea what it's like to suffer, tucked away in your big comfy village!" The boy yelled. "You don't know what it's like to lose someone you love!"

Immediately, the atmosphere in the room became tense. Naruto didn't have to look far to know why. As soon as Inari had mentioned them not knowing what it was to lose someone, Sasuki had stiffened beside him. She was now glaring at Inari, her killing intent unconsciously leaking out. _Well this isn't going to be good . . ._

 ** _What are you talking about, this will be very entertaining!_** Kurama laughed.

Naruto scowled. _Shut up Kurama, now's not the time._

Sasuki stood up abruptly, her expression thunderous. "You don't know anything about us, _brat_." She growled. Without any warning, she wound back and slapped Inari across the face, before storming out of the room.

The sound of the door slamming broke the silence of the room, accompanied only by Inari crying. Tsunami was instantly at Inari's side, cradling his cheek. She glared at the remaining members of Team 7.

"Wh-what the hell was that?" She asked angrily.

It seemed the other two were still too stunned to answer, so Naruto took the task. He fixed Tsunami with a glare of his own, making sure to make it as condemning as possible.

"That was the result of your son's foolish belief that he actually knows anything about our lives. He sits here in this house, with a mother and grandfather who love him, and food in his belly, and yet dares to try and lecture us about suffering?" He asked incredulously. Tsunami seemed stunned by his words, as if he'd slapped her. Naruto directed his gaze to Inari. "As for you, don't presume to know us. It's not my place to tell you her story, but know that you couldn't even comprehend what she's been through, or Kakashi or I for that matter."

Naruto pushed what remained of his food away, and stood up from the table. As he left, he turned to look back at Inari one more time. He knew what the boy's outburst had been about; they learned of what happened to Kaiza the other day after Sakura had noticed the torn family photo. "Another thing, don't presume that just because your stepfather failed when he stood up to Gato, that it will be the same for us. There is a vast difference between a brave civilian, and a team of determined shinobi that have trained to fight since they were younger than you. Gato's army of amateur thugs has no chance against us."

With that, Naruto left the house. He didn't bother to look back to see what the aftermath of his departure was.

 **— ₪** **NTUC ₪ —**

Upon leaving the house, Naruto tracked Sasuki's chakra signature. He was only half surprised to find her in the training ground they'd been using the past few days. For a moment, he considered going to her and checking on her. That idea was quickly shut down by Kurama.

 ** _I wouldn't do that if I were you. With how chaotic her emotions are, and enraged, she'd likely not take any attempt to help her very well. Right now she's feeling vulnerable, and that vulnerability infuriates her. Helping her would only make it worse._** The Tailed-Beast advised him.

Naruto wanted to ignore the fox's advice, but he knew he couldn't. He'd come to trust Kurama's judgement in these matters. Ultimately, he decided to send a few clones to watch over Sasuki and make sure nothing happened to her.

He himself, meanwhile, jumped up onto the roof, and laid down to watch the stars.

 **— ₪** **NTUC ₪ —**

Naruto went out to find Sasuki as soon as he'd woken up. She hadn't returned the night before—no doubt training until she dropped—and he didn't want her to go without breakfast. As he walked, he couldn't help thinking about the conversation he'd had with Kakashi the night before. He'd been expecting to be scolded, but to his surprise, Kakashi had actually supported his actions. He wasn't sure what the man said to Tsunami, but whatever it was had calmed her down. When he'd left, she had actually greeted him, albeit awkwardly.

He received a surprise as he took the last bend in the path to the training ground. Someone else was coming down the same path, though in the other direction; and it wasn't Sasuki. It was surprising since he hadn't seen anybody in this part of the forest except for them.

At first, he thought it was a girl, what with the long black hair, pink kimono, and feminine facial features. But as they drew closer, he noticed a slight bump underneath a black choker. No doubt an Addams apple. The feminine looking boy was carrying a basket filled with herbs. Naruto inclined his head slightly as they passed each-other.

A few seconds later, he froze as flashes of memories from his clones suddenly hit him. Naruto whipped his head around, and stared in the direction of the boy. _That kid . . . he's the hunter ninja._ His clones had seen the boy crouched next to Sasuki, and sensed his chakra. They were going to intervene when they saw that it looked like he was going to try and kill her, but ultimately he'd simply shaken her awake. The conversation that followed made him raise an eyebrow. _How odd. He's not what I'd expect from an associate of Zabuza._

Even though he knew she would be, Naruto was relieved when he saw Sasuki sitting in the clearing, perfectly fine, and staring at the ground in contemplation/.

"Good morning," He greeted her. Sasuki looked up at him, an odd look on her face.

"Morning," She greeted back, and then went back to staring at the ground. Naruto rose an eyebrow at her demeanor.

"I came to check on you, since you didn't return last night." Said Naruto. He still didn't get a response, so he decided to take a seat and see what was bugging her. "Is something the matter?"

Sasuki looked up at him, her eyebrows knit together in confusion. "Did you see that boy that was just here?" She asked. Naruto nodded.

Her gaze fell to the ground. "He and I were talking, and he said something odd." She told him. Even though she didn't elaborate, he had a feeling he knew what was bothering her. "Tell me, do you have anyone precious to you, that you want to protect?" Sasuki asked, her eyes boring into his.

Naruto took a moment to consider the question, though he didn't really have to. The answer was rather simple. "Yes, of course," He said. "There's the Hokage, the Ichiraku's, Shikamaru, Kakashi, Sakura," He paused, and watched as her expression fell slightly. ", and of course, you. You _are_ my best friend after all.  
He said. "Why do you ask?"

It was rather amused to see the slight dusting of pink across her cheeks at his frank answer.

Sasuki hesitated to answer, as if she wasn't sure. "I—that boy, he said that you can only become truly strong if you have someone precious you want to protect," She said, her eyes looking into his uncertainly. "Do you think he's right, is that how you've become so strong?" Sasuki asked.

This time he didn't have to fake the contemplation. What the boy had said was remarkably similar to the ideals his grandmother had. "Well, I'd like to believe my skill and the quality of my teacher had something to do with it," He began. "But yes, I'd say it is. I know to protect everyone I care about; I have to become strong enough to protect them from anyone. It drives me to be stronger than I could if I was only doing it for myself."

A frown appeared on Sasuki's face. "The night he slaughtered our clan, my brother said something to me. He told me to hate him. To let that hate make me stronger, and one day face him." She said. Her eyes met his, an almost imploring look in them. "All this time, I've been doing what he said. I've let my hate for him fuel me to become stronger, so I can kill him. Was I focusing on the wrong thing all this time?" She asked.

Although he knew he had to be careful how he handled this, Naruto felt grateful to Zabuza's associate. He'd provided an opportunity to get through to Sasuki. Naruto chose the words for his response carefully.

"Well, that's hard to answer. I guess the question you'd have to ask yourself is this; Which do you want more, to get your revenge, or," Naruto paused for a moment to make sure he had her attention. "To make sure he never takes someone from you again?" He asked. "Only you can decide that." Naruto took a moment to place his hand on her shoulder. "Just know that whatever you decide, I'll support you."

Sasuki took a long time to consider his question. He almost thought he would have to give her more time. It _was_ a life altering decision, deciding to completely change your point of view on life. After a half hour of silence, Sasuki finally looked up, her eyes filled with a determination he hadn't ever seen there. "I've decided; I want to become stronger. I don't want Itachi to take anyone else away from me." She said. Her eyes locked with his. In a far more vulnerable voice, she asked, "Um, will you help me? I'm—I'm not used to trying to get strong for someone else."

Naruto smiled, one of his rare genuine ones. He didn't even have to think about the question. "Of course," He said. "And I think the first step will be getting you some breakfast so you don't pass out while we're training today. Let's get back to Tazuna's."

Sasuki nodded in agreement, a small smile on her face. Together, they made their way back to Tazuna's, where breakfast was waiting for them.

 **— ₪** **NTUC ₪ —**

"Alright, we can begin discussing our strategy." Kakashi said.

It had been a week and a half since their confrontation with Zabuza, and Naruto and his teammates had been called into Kakashi's room. Naruto wasn't quite sure why they were there—though he suspected it had something to do with their plans to deal with Gato, because for the past week Kakashi had been having him scout out Gato and his operation with his clones. Together, the team gathered in a circle in the center of the room, a map of the Land of Waves in the middle.

The map was covered in markings that denoted how Gato moved his shipments, with the location of his main hideout—and mansion—marked by a bold red 'X'. Also on the floor, was a blueprint with the layout of the mansion.

"Zabuza should be recovered in a few days' time, which means that the time to strike and render him harmless by killing Gato is now or never. Now, thanks to Naruto's clones, we now have plenty of information on Gato's operation. The target is here—" Kakashi pointed his finger at the spot that marked Gato's main base. "—at Gato's mansion. Luckily for us, Gato relies mostly on his army of hired muscle to protect it. Apparently, he also likes to keep the missing ninja he hires away from there in case they turn on him. That's the good news," He explained.

Sakura looked at him wearily. "So what's the bad news?" She asked.

Although he couldn't see Kakashi's face, Naruto got the distinct impression he was frowning.

"The bad news is that, since it's so close to the time we expect Zabuza to recover, we can't risk Tazuna's safety by leaving him unprotected." Kakashi replied. "It means that we'll have to send enough force to take out Gato and his thugs, but keep enough force behind to repel Zabuza and his accomplice if necessary." There was a grim look in his eye, and it set Naruto on edge. It seemed as if Kakashi himself wasn't fond of the plan, and he didn't know how he felt about that. "One of us will go on the mission to Gato's, while the rest protect Tazuna."

Naruto's eyes widened slightly, and Sakura and Sasuki seemed downright shocked. Now he knew why Kakashi didn't like his own plan. The man was big on teamwork, and this would essentially leave one of them on their own.

"Who's going to be the one to attack Gato?" Sasuki asked tensely. Her question caused Naruto to think.

When you actually took time to consider the mission and what it involved, there were only two people on the team with the power to carry it out unharmed; not to mention having actually taken a life before. Him and Kakashi. He wondered which of them Kakashi would choose.

Kakashi hesitated to answer the question. He closed his eyes, as if to give himself strength, and in that instance Naruto knew his answer.

"I've thought about this long and hard, and in the end, I've decided that Naruto should be the one to take out Gato and his army." He finally answered, his eye on Naruto. For a moment, there was silence, and then at once Sakura and Sasuki began to protest together. Naruto himself, remained silent, as he processed the information. He wasn't quite sure what to feel. All he knew, was that he would perform his role.

"Are you kidding?" Sasuki asked incredulously.

"That's suicide, you can't expec—" Sakura protested. She most likely would have said more, but Kakashi cut her off.

"That's enough." He said sternly. His glare managed to silence the two girls. "I chose Naruto because it has to be one of the three of you to take out Gato, since I'm needed to handle Zabuza. Naruto has the power to pull it off," Kakashi explained. His eye then turned to Naruto. "Besides, he's the only one of you to have any experience killing, isn't that right?"

Naruto shifted uncomfortably. Not because he was ashamed of having killed before, but because he was afraid of what his teammates would think. Indeed, they were giving him odd looks. Sakura looked shocked, while Sasuki had an expression on her face he couldn't quite read.

"Is that true?" Sakura asked hesitantly. "I mean, I heard what Zabuza said back when we fought, but I didn't think it meant anything. Have you really killed before?"

Naruto licked his lips, which seemed suddenly dry. "I, I have." He admitted. "When I was six, several shinobi attacked me after I saw them attack a Leaf ninja. My bloodline awakened, and killed them all. I'm not proud of having killed, but I don't regret it. I learned to make peace with that aspect of our lives a long time ago." He closed his eyes for a moment, and tightened his resolve. When he opened them, he looked at his teammates, and especially his sensei, with determination. "I can take out Gato and his goons." He declared. "Now, what do you need me to do?" The last part, was solely for Kakashi.

Kakashi acknowledged his words with a nod, and pulled the blueprints of Gato's mansion over the map. "The plan is relatively simple. Gato sends his men out to collect taxes every Sunday. Every other day, he keeps them all at his home, except for a small patrol at dawn and dusk," He explained. Kakashi then pointed to the main gate. "This here is the only entrance in or out; at least by conventional means. He only has two people stationed on the outside. The rest patrol the grounds and mansion in roving shifts. Since the security is so thick, I think it would be best if you use your clones to swarm them. You'll scale the walls and hit them before they know what's happening." Kakashi told him. "Do you understand what you need to do?"

Naruto nodded, his gaze riveted to the plans. He knew what Kakashi meant. With the layout of the compound, any attempts at stealth would be a waste of time. He would inevitably need to take out a few guards, and by the time he got to Gato, they would be discovered and the alarms would sound, allowing him to escape. No, the only option was brute force.

"I understand," He said verbally. "While my clones take out the thugs, I fight my way directly to Gato, and take him out." Naruto narrowed his eyes in thought, and looked at Kakashi. "Gato doesn't seem like the type of man to use banks. If I come across any taxes he might have taken from the people of Wave, should I retrieve it?"

Kakashi stroked his chin in thought. He took a few moments to respond. "I suppose so, but make sure you take out Gato first. You can search the compound after." He replied. His gaze then turned to Sakura and Sasuki. "As for you two, you'll be coming with me to the bridge, to protect Tazuna." He ordered.

Both girls nodded, although Naruto could tell they were reluctant. Especially Sasuki; she was very clearly not happy with the arrangements. Whether it was because she wasn't going to be involved in the battle she knew would be happening, or because he would be entering that battle alone, Naruto couldn't tell. Either way, it was good enough for Kakashi, apparently.

"Good, now that we all know our roles, let's get to sleep. One way or another, tomorrow will decide the outcome of this mission." He ordered.

Little did they know, just how right he was.

 **— ₪** **NTUC ₪ —**

 **AN/ Alright, so there's chapter 9. I don't really have much to say, so I'll end it here. Be sure to follow, favorite, and review, I like feedback. Let's see if we can't get over 1000 on follows and favorites for this story by chapter 11.  
**

 **Next Time: The Battle of the Bridge, Bloodline vs. Bloodline!**

 **So, til next time,**

 **RinneTaicho, Signing off!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Naruto: The Uchiha Chronicles**

 **AN/ So here we are, with another chapter. This chapter will see the final battles of this arc, though there will be one more chapter in this arc that will sort of wrap everything up. We'll also see a surprise in this chapter, a jutsu a snuck a subtle hint in about in chapter six, but one I expect most won't expect Naruto to know.**

 **I also have some bad news. I won't be posting anything for the next couple weeks at least. I've been swamped with school work for the past few weeks, and haven't had as much of a chance to finish the first four chapters on my newest story as I thought I would. I** ** _might_** **be able to get the eleventh chapter for this story done in the next week so you aren't hanging in regards to this arc, but I can't promise anything for certain. I'll also be using the time to make some slight tweaks to Naruto and how his sword works and stuff.**

 **Anyways, not much other news, so on with the chapter!**

Normal speech: "what"

Extremely loud group/single person shouting: "WHAT!"

Thoughts/Speech taken out of context: _'what'_

Letter/Book/Written text: ' _What'_

Demon/Summon speech: **"what"**

Demon/Summon thoughts: **_'what_**

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or Bleach, that honor belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and Tite Kubo respectively.

 **Arc III: Land of Waves Escort Mission:**

 **Chapter 10: The Battle of the Bridge, Bloodline vs. Bloodline!**

 **— ₪** **NTUC ₪ —**

The next morning, Naruto double and triple checked his equipment after he'd taken a shower and gotten dressed. His assignment today was pivotal to their overall mission, so he couldn't afford for anything to go wrong. Once he was sure he had everything he needed, he resealed his supplies, and went downstairs for breakfast. It was a quiet affair, with very little conversation. There was a tense feeling in the air, as everyone knew that today was important. Naruto himself tried to center his emotions. After all the food was eaten, and the plates put away, there was no more stalling.

Tazuna bid goodbye to his daughter and grandson, while Naruto and his team gathered outside. As they were waiting, Naruto created a half dozen clones.

The clones stood before him silently, and Naruto ordered, "Surround the house, make sure you remain unseen." He noticed the odd looks his team was giving him, and shrugged his shoulders. "Better safe than sorry, just in case Gato decides to try something," He explained. "Well, I better get going. It's a long way to Gato's mansion, even by shinobi travel."

Kakashi nodded in understanding. "Very well, good luck, and be careful."

"Yeah, make sure to get back in one piece," Sakura said encouragingly.

Lastly, Sasuki chipped in. She looked slightly concerned, although she tried to hide it. ". . . I guess I'll see you later," She said.

Naruto smiled at his team. Although they each had their own way of expressing it, it was obvious they all cared about him and were worried. Even if Sasuki had trouble expressing it. He offered them one more wave, before dashing into the forest.

 **— ₪** **NTUC ₪ —**

Naruto alighted upon a tree branch on the perimeter of Gato's property, and immediately settled into a crouch. The trip to Gato's mansion, which was fifty miles away from Tazuna's house, had taken him a half hour; even with his speed. The tree he was standing on was roughly fifty yards outside the main gate of the compound, and the height lent him a view of the inside of the walls Gato's mansion was a massive affair, easily fifty times as big as Tazuna's house, and several stories tall. It was rather modern looking, made of sturdy wood, glass, and brick, with at least a hundred rooms inside. The mansion was surrounded by a vast garden and yard, with a massive stone wall surrounding the compound, and only a single gate to enter through.

It didn't take long for Naruto to notice something was off, though.

During his observation of Gato's organization he'd noticed that there were almost always at least thirty guards on patrol. From where he stood, there was barely twenty, if that.

 _Something's off about this._ Naruto extended his chakra sensing capabilities to try and get a feel for how many people were in the compound. It was very hard, as most of the thugs were only normal bandits, which made it difficult to sense them because their chakra networks hadn't been developed. There was the occasional bandit that had a bit of shinobi training, but they were few and far between. What Naruto sensed after he extended his senses to the limit wasn't what he'd expected. There was only a total of seventy chakra signatures in the compound. That wasn't even a quarter of Gato's army of thugs. The twenty he had counted earlier were guarding the perimeter, with two other guards outside the gates. The other forty-eight were spread out inside the mansion.

He frowned to himself. Something was definitely off here. Gato would never leave himself so under protected. It led him to one conclusion. _Gato isn't here, but why? I have to find out more. Kurama, can you sense any negative feelings that would lead you to believe there's a trap?_ Naruto asked.

 ** _No, I can't. It's fairly obvious that these men aren't pleasant people, but there's no intent or concentration of dark feelings to suggest a trap._** Kurama replied.

Naruto frowned. He had to figure out what was going on, and quickly. His hands formed the familiar cross-shaped seal for the shadow clone jutsu, and he began to create a huge amount of clones. It took him a while, since he had to create them in groups of ten, which would then immediately take off to surround the perimeter. If he made them in any larger groups, they might be spotted.

It took him a while, but as soon as Naruto knew they had the compound surrounded, he created and dispelled a clone to order the attack.

Naruto, with twenty clones flanking him, performed three quick hand seals, ending with the dragon seal. **_Wind Style: Drilling Air Bullet!_**

Their chests puffed out, as air filled their lungs to nearly their bursting point. Naruto slammed his fist into his chest, and let loose a massive concussive bullet of air, which sped towards the compound gate. Nineteen more similar blasts traveled alongside his own, with something similar happening on all sides of the compound. The veritable wall of air collided with the walls of the compound with explosive force.

Naruto witnessed the gruesome sight of the two guards at the gate being crushed under the pressure of the wind, their limbs snapping and blood pouring from their mouth and eyes as their internal organs ruptured. Around them, the wall was instantly blasted into rubble, a cloud of dirt being kicked into the air. He could hear the screams of other guards as they were crushed under the wall of stone, and the startled and confused yells of those who witnessed it. Under the screen provided by the dust, Naruto and his clones charged the compound.

Like a great black wave, they fell upon the compound. Through the dust, Naruto saw a figure loom. He didn't hesitate to draw Senbonzakura and cut the man in half at the waist. The man, a burly looking fellow who was shirtless, collapsed to the ground in a pile of blood and entrails. He and his clones made liberal use of shock tactics to cut down anyone that they came across.

Within a matter of minutes, they had disposed of all the guards on the outside. Around twenty of his clones were dispelled in the process, but that wasn't much compared to the hundreds he had made.

Naruto quickly regrouped his clones, and had them surround the mansion as they had the walls. "Aright, we can't destroy the mansion; there may be something to tell us where Gato is. Break the windows with kunai, and then throw in smoke bombs." He ordered. "A third of you stay back to pick off any stragglers that try to escape, the rest, scale the walls and enter through the windows. Use the cover to kill anyone you come across. I'll be headed for the main office myself, once everyone is killed, search this place for anything valuable."

He didn't wait for a response. As soon as the last word left his mouth, he unsealed a pair of kunai, and threw them through the windows on the front door. The steel knives easily shattered the glass, leaving a gaping hole. The knives of his clones did similar to the other windows, and they were quickly followed by smoke pellets/

The pellets erupted into gouts of thick black smoke. Once again Naruto and his army of clones charged Gato's mansion. The clones poured through the windows and scaled the walls, covering the outside of the mansion. Naruto himself went through the front doors, a couple clones on either side. He reinforced his leg with chakra, and kicked the oak double-doors of their hinges. The doors flew through the air, and landed with a tremendous— _CRASH!_

Naruto marched into the smoke, his sensing abilities extended completely, and his Sharingan blazing. With it, he was able to differentiate between the guards in the entrance hall, and his clones.

He lashed out with his sword almost immediately, and cut down one of the guards, who was coughing and stumbling about.

Without pause, he proceeded up the main staircase. Heedless of the battle around him, he continued up the stairs, and to the third floor, where he knew Gato's office was. Every once in a while he would have to cut down a guard, but for the most part his clones handled it.

Fifteen minutes after the assault began, Naruto found himself outside the doors of Gato's office. Apparently, it was where he'd kept some of his more skilled guards, as every clone that had approached had approached had been taken down. From the memories, he could tell that they were some of the few with shinobi training, as each clone was cut down before they could get a good look. All he knew was that one of them used a sword.

He narrowed his eyes at the guards that blocked his way. There were two of them. The first one was huge, tall, and bulky. He was shirtless, and had a shaved head, with several tattoos, while wielding a large steel sasumata. The other was of average height, and rather lanky. A nasty scar stretched across his face and he had short cropped brown hair. At his waist was sheathed a long katana.

"Hmm, this one is alone. He must be the original." The lanky one observed. Beside him, his companion nodded in agreement

Naruto's Sharingan picked up the slight twitch in the man's muscles, and showed him he was about to attack. Before either man could react, he raised his arms, allowed Kurama's chakra to envelope them. The bubbling red chakra burned his skin, but he ignored it. He directed it forward in the form of two clawed hands, which shot out and snared the two men in their massive grips.

The men stared at him with wide, fearful eyes at the display of power.

"Sorry, but I don't have time to mess around." He said seriously. A slight tightening of his hands caused the chakra hands to crush the two men in their grips. He then let the chakra dissipate, and the two corpses collapsed to the ground like giant sacks of potatoes.

Naruto stepped over the dead bodies gingerly, careful to avoid the expanding pool of blood, and entered the office. It was a large room, paneled in a dark red wood, with a large, sturdy desk in the center of the room. Papers were strewn haphazardly across the desk. With a frown, Naruto created a couple clones, and they quickly began rifling through the paperwork.

In the distance, he could hear the sounds of battle, the clashing of steel, and the occasional crash of collapsing wood. Pretty soon, though, they began to die off.

He frowned as he went through his stack of documents. It was pretty mundane stuff, shipping invoices, cargo logs. A few looked suspicious, but none of them gave him a hint of where Gato might be. _Come on, there's got to be something here._

"Hey boss, you better take a look at this," One of his clones called. Naruto's gaze whipped in the direction of the clone, and he saw him holding up a crumpled piece of paper. "I found it in the trash can," The clone explained, as it handed the piece of paper to Naruto.

Naruto carefully unfolded the note, and stared at the contents.

 _Boss,_

 _Zabuza is making his move today. He and the kid just left the place we set up for them._

 _If you're going to make a move to kill them, now's the time._

His mind raced from the contents of the note. Zabuza had recovered, and he was making a move! Not only that, but it seemed like Gato was planning on betraying Zabuza and his partner. Naruto felt like cursing. _It's a good thing Kakashi thought to keep most of us with Tazuna. Still, I have to get there as fast as I can._

Naruto immediately began to draw on Kurama's chakra. A bubbling shroud of red chakra enveloped him, a single tail sprouted out, and waved through the air with a mind of its own. _Hope you don't mind Kurama, but I'm going to need to get there as fast as possible._

 ** _Hmpf, whatever. Just don't mess up, brat._** The fox growled. Naruto nodded in understanding.

 _Don't worry, I won't._ He began to channel more chakra into his legs. Once it reached a sufficient level, he shot off using his flash step, and made his way to the bridge.

 **— ₪** **NTUC ₪ —**

Even though it only took him less than five minutes to reach the bridge, to Naruto, it felt like an eternity. The entire time he worried about his team. Were they managing to hold of Zabuza and his accomplice without him? He didn't know, and it scared him.

The first thing he noticed as he dashed down the road to the bridge was the thick fog that hung in the air, even beyond the boundary of the bridge. It was so dense he couldn't even see ten feet in front of himself, and if he hadn't made the trip to the bridge so many times, he likely wouldn't have even known that it was there. The fog wasn't just thick, though. Even without using his ability to sense chakra, he could feel that the mist was absolutely chocked _full_ of chakra. _Is this part of Zabuza's plan, to limit the effectiveness of Kakashi's Sharingan?_ Naruto had to grudgingly admit it was a good plan, since the chakra in the air would make it hard for Kakashi to see Zabuza's own chakra.

Naruto crept through the mist silently. He'd only made it about ten feet onto the bridge, when he tred on something soft. His eyes widened when he saw what it was. The body of a man, strewn across the ground, his eyes wide, and a senbon needle in his neck. Grimly, he crouched down and pressed his fingers to the man's neck. He almost wanted to sigh in release when he found a pulse. Instead, he focused his senses on his surroundings.

He could hear the sounds of battle ringing through the air, coming from two different directions. From the one that seemed closest to him, he heard the— _ping ping ping_ —of senbon being deflected. He frowned, and extended his senses to the limit, so that he might figure out where he should help first. His eyes closed in concentration. A quick check told him that Sakura was with Tazuna a little way away from the bridge, probably underground using one of her earth jutsu. Further in, towards the middle of the bridge, he could feel Kakashi and Zabuza clashing. From what little he could tell, that battle seemed pretty even. It was the closer battle that worried him. He could feel the all too familiar signature that belonged to Sasuki, as well as an unknown one. The thing that worried him was that Sasuki seemed like she was on her last legs chakra wise, and she wasn't moving too well.

His decision was made immediately. Swiftly, and silently, he swept through the mist. Within moments he was able to see the fight, and he didn't like what he saw.

Sasuki and Haku were surrounded by a dome of gleaming rectangular mirrors. With a start, he realized it was ice! _Ice? So that boy has the Ice Style kekkei genkai of the Yuki Clan?_ Naruto frowned as he noticed the state of Sasuki. She was panting heavily, and her body was riddled with senbon needles that had dug deep into her flesh. He couldn't count how many there were, but it was obvious that they were hindering her mobility. Not just that, but she was almost constantly having to deflect new needles from all directions.

 _Where are those coming from?_ Naruto couldn't tell what was going on. He couldn't see Haku at all, but the boy was obviously throwing them. Was he using clones? Possibly. But if so, where were they? He couldn't see any, or the original for that manner.

It took him a few moments to notice a blur of motion in the air. His eyes locked onto it instantly. He began to notice more and more blurs, and his eyes widened. _He's moving incredibly fast, faster than even my Flash Step. This is_ NOT _good._

Naruto's assessment of the situation was drawn to a brief halt, due to a sudden cry of pain from Sasuki. His heart jumped into his throat as he saw her fall to her knees, her hand clutching her left knee. A senbon had struck her in the side of the knee, probably severing the ligament. She tried to stand, but immediately fell back to her knees.

 _I have to do something._ He wracked his brain, trying to remember all he could about the bloodline of the Yuki Clan from the Mist. The ice they made was said to be highly resilient, and nearly indestructible. Most importantly; it couldn't simply be melted. Naruto's mind raced for a solution. He couldn't simply rush in, that would get them both trapped, and he would need to guard Sasuki. _My only choice is to use brute force to smash through the ice, and get her out. But I don't know if I have enough strength to smash that, even if I use Kurama's chakra._ Naruto grit his teeth. He could think of only one jutsu in his repertoire that had the kind of power he needed, though he was loath to use it. It wasn't complete. _There's no help for it, I guess._

Just as Naruto decided on his plan, Sasuki was suddenly hit in the neck by a senbon needle. For a second, her mouth stretched open in a silent scream, and then she slumped forward onto the ground. Like a wraith, Haku appeared within the cage of mirrors, and began to step towards Sasuki.

He couldn't help the cry that tore from his lips. "SASUKI!"

Haku's head turned in his direction. The slit eyes seemed to bore into his soul. "I'm sorry you have to see this," He said.

Naruto wasn't listening though. As soon as he had let loose his yell, he crouched down and began channeling chakra to his right hand. He'd be damned if he let Sasuki be killed; even if he had to put all his faith in an incomplete jutsu. Just to make sure he had enough power, he allowed Kurama's chakra to flood his system. _Concentrate. Rotation. Power. Containment._ Naruto grit his teeth, and repeated the mantra in his head.

Wisps of purple chakra spun in the palm of his hand. After a few seconds, it took the form of a sphere of spiraling chakra. The sphere fluctuated in size, but eventually stabilized. _It's formed!_ Naruto didn't hesitate to burst forth. He knew his jutsu could fail at any second.

With the aid of his flash step, he instantly appeared before one of the mirrors. He thrust his arm forth, and his jutsu slammed into the mirrors surface. " **Rasengan!** "

For a five agonizing second, his jutsu grinded against the surface of the mirror. Cracks formed, but as soon as they did, they repaired themselves. Naruto growled in frustration. He poured even more chakra into the technique. It was the last nail in the ice mirrors coffin. The mirror shattered into pieces, and Naruto shot through the opening that was created.

Haku seemed frozen in shock that one of his mirrors was broken, and Naruto took advantage. He clenched his fist, and slammed it into the other boy's mask, sending him crashing into a mirror on the opposite side.

He didn't pause to make sure Haku stayed down, but instead raced to Sasuki's side.

"Sasuki, are you all right?" Naruto asked, shaking her shoulder gently.

To his relief, Sasuki groaned, and one of her eyes cracked open slightly. He briefly started upon seeing that her Sharingan had awoken, but shook it off almost immediately. Sasuki stared at him in confusion. "N-Naruto? What's going on, why're you here?"

Naruto smiled gently. "That can wait, let me get you out of here first,"

He cradled her in his arms, and used his flash step to get them out of the mirror dome. Even after they were clear, he didn't stop until he'd taken them a good twenty yards away.

Gently, he set Sasuki down on the ground, mindful of the numerous senbon sticking from her body. Nevertheless, Sasuki groaned in discomfort. Her eyes fluttered.

"What happened with Gato?" She asked weakly.

"When I got there, he was gone. My clones and I tore up his office, and found a note that said Zabuza was making his move. I got here as fast as I could." Naruto frowned as he looked at her injuries. It was clear that the boy was aiming for non-vital spots, but still, the wounds were taking their toll on Sasuki; she could barely keep her eyes open. "I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner."

The response he got to his apology wasn't what he was expecting. In a very un-Sasuki-like manner, Sasuki smiled at him. "There you go again, being an idiot. It isn't your fault. That kid is strong."

Naruto shook his head at her response. Even in the state she was in, she still wanted to trade barbs. He felt tears prick his eyes, but he fought them down.

"Anyways, that's not important right now. I need to go take down that Haku boy." He replied.

By now, Sasuki was visibly straining to stay awake, but it was a fight she was losing. With the last of her strength, she fixed him with a serious look. "Don't lose," She said.

Naruto nodded, not trusting his voice with how constricted his throat was becoming. Sasuki gave him a satisfied smile, and her eyes finally fell shut, the exhaustion of her fight had caught up to her.

As soon as Sasuki's eyes closed, Naruto's expression changed. He stared at her in utter seriousness, his face a cold mask. "Don't worry. I'll beat him," He vowed.

He stood up, and turned to fix his opponent with a hard stare. To his surprise, Haku was just standing there. The boy must have been recovered for several minutes, but he'd stood by and let them have their moment. His punch earlier had shattered Haku's mask, and he could finally see his feminine facial features. _This guy is an odd one. He could've easily tried to attack, but he didn't. Why?_

For a few moments, they stood in silence. It was Haku that broke it.

"That girl, she is precious to you, isn't she?" He asked. There was a sad look on his face.

Naruto nodded. "Yes, she is. She's my best friend." He replied.

"I see. I apologize for hurting her. I was merely doing my duty to Master Zabuza." Haku said. There was a pleading look in his eyes. "Please, do not fight me. I don't wish to cause you anymore pain."

Even though his words were sincere, they grated on Naruto's nerves. He reigned in his anger, though, and instead stood up and looked at Haku coldly.

"You speak as if you could actually defeat me." He said. "You're skilled, I'll give you that. But you're overlooking one detail."

Haku cocked his head to the side. "Oh, what's that? I have the advantage, after all, we're surrounded by water."

Naruto chuckled. "Wrong. It's _I_ that have the advantage. In fact, I have two," He replied. "First, you're low on chakra. That jutsu is obviously taxing on your reserves. I, on the other hand, have nearly all my chakra intact." Naruto explained. Haku looked at him wearily.

"And the second advantage?" He asked. Naruto smirked maliciously.

"The second advantage, is that we're alone, which means I don't have to hide this," Naruto answered. He activated his Sharingan, and the familiar feeling of the rest of the world moving in slow motion took over his vision.

In retrospect, he might've savored the look of shock on Haku's face a little too much.

"Yo-you have it too?" Haku asked, his voice breathless. Naruto nodded.

"Yes, I do. And unlike Sasuki, I have experience using it." He replied. "Now, let's see which one of us is faster!"

Without warning, he activated his flash step, and rushed Haku. In an instant he appeared before the boy. He could already feel the intense cold the mirrors surrounding them radiated seeping into his skin, but he ignored it, and raised Senbonzakura to slash his opponent. To his mild surprise, Haku managed to block his attack. They stood deadlocked, Naruto considered casting a genjutsu on his opponent, but Haku seemed to know better than to look him in the eyes.

They disengaged, and retreated to opposite sides of the dome. Naruto noticed that the ice mirror he had destroyed had now been replaced. He was trapped inside the dome, for better or worse.

Naruto studied his opponent. Despite how one-sided the fight between Haku and Sasuki had seemed, he noticed that Haku had not escaped unscathed. His clothes were slightly scorched. _Sasuki must've hit him with a fire jutsu. Way to go._ Naruto hid a fond smile.

The brief moment of inspection ended when Haku stepped backwards, and merged with the mirror behind him. Suddenly, his image was reflected on the surface of every mirror.

 _What in the world?_ Naruto didn't have any time to question his opponents jutsu. Almost immediately after Haku had merged with the mirror, Naruto's instincts flared like crazy, and he flash stepped to the center of the dome of mirror's. It was a good thing he did. Haku was leaning half way out of the mirror, clearly having been planning to cut his throat.

Naruto studied his opponent closely, and especially his jutsu. With his Sharingan, he was able to make out the bluish-white chakra that was spread throughout the ice. The frustrating part was that the chakra was spread evenly throughout the mirrors. He would've expected that the one with Haku in it would have a greater chakra concentration than the others. _He must be purposefully spreading it. It might even be part of the reason he's able to merge into them completely, similar to how an earth or wood style user can merge with their element._

Of course, his vision of the chakra wasn't made any better by the constant film of Zabuza's chakra in the air.

His musing was cut short by a hail of senbon. Naruto deftly deflected them with his sword. He tried to follow up by slashing Haku out of the air, but he was too late. By the time he had deflected the last senbon, Haku had already entered a new mirror.

It quickly became apparent that, while Haku couldn't hit him, the same could be said for Naruto. Every time he deflected Haku's senbon, Haku had already entered another mirror. Even after he began to draw on Kurama's chakra, he still only managed a few slashes at Haku, that did more damage to his clothes than anything else. _Alright, it's time to try a different approach._

Naruto held Senbonzakura out in front of him. He willed his chakra into the seals along the blade, which glowed white for a single instance. Haku tried to stop him, but it was already too late. Iron sand flooded forth, scattering into the air as minute particles almost invisible to the naked eye. Naruto quickly willed his sand to form into tiny razor blades, which glinted white when the light hit them. The blades gathered into a dense, billowing cloud, that surrounded Naruto like a drifting shield. _Now, I can focus on actually hitting him._

The next time Haku tried to strike—a tentative throw to test out his defenses—he was ready for it. Naruto directed a tendril to snap out, and try and catch Haku. To his satisfaction, a gash was opened up on his opponent's forearm. Blood dripped from the wound, creating a dotted crimson line across the ground.

For several minutes, they traded shots. The battle was slowly drawing to a close. More and more, Naruto managed to cut Haku, and more and more Haku took longer and longer rest periods. Naruto could tell that his chakra was nearly to the point of depletion. His wounds too, were also hindering him. With his opponent now weak, Naruto decided to force his opponent to use the last of his chakra.

Throughout their fight, he'd noticed that every time a mirror was damaged, it would use chakra to repair itself. With that in mind, Naruto unleashed his razors of iron sand at the mirrors all at once. The tiny slivers of metal slammed into the ice mirrors, and began to shave them into dust. A tremendous screeching wail filled the air, as the metal ground at the ice. It grated harshly at Naruto's ears, but he persisted with his attack.

At first the mirrors resisted, and repaired themselves. But that began to fade. Finally, Naruto unleashed one massive pulse of chakra. The screeching reached a fever-pitch. All of a sudden, Haku threw himself backwards from the mirror he was residing in, and landed on the ground with a harsh _thud_. Not even a second later, the ice mirrors began to fall apart, crashing to the ground and shattering into miniscule pieces.

In the silence that followed, Naruto directed his iron sand back into the seals on his blade. He stared at his opponent, who was lying on his back, his chest heaving.

"Well, it seems our battle has reached a conclusion." He said. Quite frankly, he was amazed that it had lasted even as long as it did. That jutsu was so taxing, most ninja would have given in much earlier. It was a testament to Haku's determination.

His opponent tried to get up, but ultimately slumped to the ground. "It seems so." Haku's gaze turned to him. There was a dead look in his eyes. "Well, aren't you going to finish it?" He asked. "Go on, kill me. I don't care. I've failed in my mission. My purpose is to be Master Zabuza's tool, and I've failed. I'm nothing but a broken tool, to be discarded."

Naruto stared in disbelief, as tears began to leak from the boy's eyes. Not because he thought he was about to die, but because he'd failed someone close to him. The sheer devotion was . . . shocking. In a way, he could relate. He felt that way about several people in his life. Still, to see it inspired by someone like Zabuza was surprising. He licked his suddenly dry lips, and asked, "Why are you so willing to die for someone like Zabuza? Why would you try to cast this country into permanent despair, just for him?" Naruto just couldn't comprehend it.

Haku looked at him with sad eyes. "Surely you can understand. Zabuza helped me when I was weak. He took me in, and gave me a purpose. I would gladly give my life for him, and now that I've lost, I'm of now further use. So go on, kill me, you'd be doing me a favor."

Naruto didn't strike, though. He knew it was the smart thing to do. He'd revealed his Sharingan to this boy. Not only that, he was his enemy, he'd tried to kill Tazuna, and hurt Sasuki. It would be crazy not to kill him. And yet, something stayed his hand. For some reason, he couldn't bring himself to kill Haku. Haku reminded him of someone. It was with a start, he realized who it was _himself_ the boy reminded him of. _This boy. He reminds me of myself. Grandfather took me in, gave me a family. I would've done anything for him. It's the same for him._

Their situations weren't totally similar; Naruto had been taken in by his grandfather, who gave him love. Haku, on the other hand, had been found by Zabuza, who had given him a purpose; to be his tool. Could he have turned out that way if someone had reached out to him? The thought disturbed Naruto.

In one last moment of indecision, Naruto raised his sword to finish Haku off. He fought, and warred with his emotions to try and deal the death blow; but they wouldn't budge. With a heavy sigh, Naruto sheathed his sword. He couldn't do it. Instead, he raised his hand. Yellow energy began to crackle in his palm. " **Hainawa!** "

The energy he was holding burst forth into a rope, which quickly snared Haku in its grasp. It wound round his body, binding him so tight he couldn't move.

"Wha-what is this?" Haku asked. He tried to struggle against the rope of energy, but it was readily apparent that he was too weak.

Naruto looked down at Haku calmly. "It's a jutsu I created myself. I guess you could say it's partially a barrier jutsu, and partially a sealing jutsu. You won't escape it."

As they spoke, the mist began to thin out. The constant haze of chakra disappeared, and it took Naruto a moment to realize what it meant. Kakashi's fight with Zabuza was probably drawing to a close. The fact that it was clearing and he could still feel both men's chakra told him all he needed to know about how it was going. Zabuza would never have let up his jutsu unless Kakashi was dead for certain, and that obviously wasn't the case.

"It seems that both fights are now over. I expect Zabuza will be dead soon," He commented. It was more to himself than anything, but it was definitely heard by Haku.

Haku began to struggle against his bindings fiercely, a sudden panicked look on his face. "Master Zabuza needs me, please, let me go!" He pleaded.

The boys wide, innocent brown eyes bored into Naruto's own eyes, and Naruto felt uncomfortable. Desperation was obvious in his eyes, as if his entire world depended on helping Zabuza. And it probably did. Naruto had lost the one who pulled him from the loneliness. The pain had been hard, but he'd had time to prepare for it. The idea of losing someone close to him suddenly and violently? He couldn't imagine how painful that would be. Could he really just stand by and allow that to happen to this boy that was so similar to him?

 _Don't do it. Don't give in._ Naruto clenched his eyes shut tightly, trying to block out the image of the despair on Haku's face. His mind warred with his heart, even as he heard the tell-tale chirping sound of a lightning jutsu fill the air. It wasn't hard to deduce what jutsu it was, given what he knew about his sensei. Even then, he struggled with the decision. Again, it should have been easy. Yet it wasn't

Naruto was so caught up in his inner war, that he almost missed the sudden tingling at the edge of his chakra senses. Luckily, he didn't. Like tiny prickles of light, miniscule compared to that of a shinobi, dozens—even hundreds—of chakra signatures began to appear in his sensing range. _This feeling. It must be Gato and his thugs!_ That sealed the deal for Naruto. No matter how inconsequential they seemed, with how weakened all of them were, it would be hard to deal with the thugs if they were taken unawares.

"It seems you've just gotten lucky. Your employer Gato has arrived here, along with his army of thugs. I imagine he's here to kill all us ninja." Naruto told Haku, whose eyes widened in shock. He locked eyes with the boy, and gave him a slight nod. "Our battle is over. I'll prevent your master from dying, so that we might defeat them. You wait here, since you'll be no use in a fight,"

Naruto steadfastly ignored Haku's protests, and took off using his flash step.

 _I just hope I stop them in time._ As he traveled, Naruto thought of how he might stop Kakashi from killing Zabuza. His strength wouldn't be enough to grab Kakashi's arm. Truth be told he wasn't very fond of the thought of getting in front of his sensei's signature Lightning Blade. He was reckless, not suicidal. No, he'd have to either knock Kakashi off target, or make sure both men were immobilized. _Option two is the most doable._

Naruto squinted his eyes into the remaining mist, and focused on the two chakra's he could see, along with three much smaller signatures. One, a reddish violet color, was stuck in place, with the smaller chakra signatures hanging off them. The other, electric blue, was moving at immense speed; presumably Kakashi. It was only thanks to his own speed and Sharingan-enhanced perception that he was able to track him. _Alright, I'm only going to get one shot at this, better make it count._ Naruto narrowed his focus in on the two, and pointed his index fingers at them. For Kakashi, he pointed slightly ahead, so he would run into the point he planned for his jutsu to collide with him. _NOW!_ _ **Rikujokoro!**_

From his fingertips, two slivers of energy were released, and hurtled towards the fighting jonin. Naruto watched anxiously as his jutsu approached his target. _Three seconds. Two seconds. One second . . ._

A flash of yellow light illuminated the middle of the bridge, showing the two jonin trapped within two wheels of long, flat slivers of light that circled their waists. The dogs that Kakashi had summoned to trap Zabuza leapt clear with startled yelps.

The two were frozen in place, their heads the only thing that could move. Zabuza was stuck hunched over from the weight of the dogs that had been holding him down. His sensei was stuck in a rather awkward pose, frozen in mid-lunge with his lightning encased fist just inches from Zabuza chest. The dark blue tank-top Zabuza was wearing had actually been scorched by the lightning. After a second, his sensei's jutsu died down due to the lack of access to his chakra.

The only part of their bodies that they could move was their heads, and both men turned his way as they heard the sounds of his footsteps on the concrete. Naruto deactivated his Sharingan before either man could notice it.

"What the hell is this? Is it your doing?" Zabuza growled. Naruto saw him struggling to break free of the jutsu, not that it did any good.

Kakashi, meanwhile, turned to Naruto with narrowed eyes. "I assume you have an explanation?" He asked. Naruto nodded. Seeing that his sensei wasn't going to freak out, he went ahead and released him from the jutsu's hold. As soon as he wasn't bound by the jutsu, Kakashi stood up straight. He gave Naruto a serious look. "So, let's hear this reason."

"Now wait just a moment! Don't you ignore me, Kakashi, brat! If you're going to kill me, then do it." Zabuza interrupted.

Naruto rose an eyebrow the man. "If I wanted you dead, why would I have stopped Kakashi from dealing the final blow?" He asked, more to himself than anything. Either way, he didn't wait for a reply. "We're about to have company," He said simply.

Kakashi's eyebrows shot up. "Oh, who?"

He wasn't the only one confused, Zabuza also looked at his in surprise. In response, Naruto motioned to the unfinished side of the bridge with a jerk of his head. "Take a look for yourself."

Kakashi and Zabuza looked in the direction he was indication. As one, they scowled, and at the same time, growled, "Gato."

It was said with particular venom in Zabuza's case. Clearly, despite working for him, he didn't like the man.

From the mist, a group of people began to emerge. An army of thugs, wielding various weapons, ranging from spears, to clubs, to scythes, and even a few Naruto couldn't name. There must have been at least a couple hundred of them. All of the men looked rough and tough, with a cruel gleam in their eyes, and their wardrobe reflected that. At their head stood a man that was out of place. An extremely short man, barely even as tall as Naruto himself. The man had bushy hair and a thin mustache, and he wore an expensive business suit, with small dark glasses. Both of his hands were clutching a cane; his right hand was encased in a cast. The man was Gato, the oppressor and tiny tyrant of the Land of Waves.

While Zabuza's gaze was focused on his employer, Kakashi turned to Naruto and asked, "I thought you were going to take care of him?"

Naruto shook his head, and frowned. "When I got there, he was gone. After fighting through the guards, I found a note in his office that said Zabuza was making his move," He explained. With a subtle glance to Zabuza, Naruto kept his next words extremely quiet. "It also seemed to suggest that he planned to betray Zabuza."

Apparently his words weren't quiet enough, because Zabuza let loose another growl. "WHAT?" He exclaimed furiously.

Gato sniggered. "Hehehe, well, well, well, what do we have here? It seems you've failed again Zabuza. This is becoming a habit. And this time, you've been beaten by a brat. My how the mighty have fallen." He sneered.

"Gato, you swine, what is the meaning of this?" Zabuza growled. Once more he tried to escape his bonds, but it was no use. He seemed to settle for giving Gato his most menacing stare.

Far from being intimidated, Gato laughed. "I thought that would be obvious," He said. "Your services are too expensive; these thugs are much cheaper. I've decided that now that you ninja are weak from battling, I'll have them kill you all, and take care of the bridge builder once and for all." Gato squinted his eyes, and seemed to be looking at something behind them. "Say, isn't that the brat that broke my arm back there? This is perfect. Once you three are dead, I'll take my time teaching him a lesson before I have him killed."

Naruto tensed at the man's words. He briefly considered letting Haku out of the jutsu, but ultimately let it go. Even if he released him, Haku wouldn't really be able to defend himself. Instead, he created a few clones with orders to go form a barrier around him, and Sasuki as well.

"Well, since Gato has broken our agreement, we no longer have reason to fight Copy Ninja." Zabuza said to Kakashi. He then turned to Naruto. "You can release me now, boy,"

Despite Zabuza's assurance, Naruto first looked to Kakashi for permission. His sensei gave him a small nod. Naruto sighed, and—reluctantly—released his jutsu that bound Zabuza.

The Demon of the Mist straightened up. "I'll take my leave," He told them.

Naruto's eyes widened in disbelief. "What, that's it? After he used you, and planned to betray you? Aren't you going to help us fight?" He asked incredulously. "What about Haku?"

Zabuza rose a none-existent eyebrow. "What of him?"

Naruto felt like decking him. In his fight, it had been readily apparent how devoted to Zabuza Haku was, and here his loyalty was being spit on. "You'd just sit there and allow Gato to get away with threatening to torture and kill him?" Naruto growled. Zabuza scoffed at him.

"We're ninja. Gato used me, and I used Haku. That's how life is for people like us." Zabuza answered dismissively. Naruto's face twisted in anger. Kakashi tried to calm him down, but he wouldn't have any of it.

"Haku has devoted his life to you. He _lives_ for you. When he lost to me, all he could think of is how he failed you! Are you so selfish that that means nothing to you, do you feel nothing for him?" He asked accusingly.

Zabuza turned his back to him. Naruto was going to continue to lay into him, but then he heard the sound of something wet dripping onto the ground. Tiny circles of dark gray dotted the ground at Zabuza's feet. He was crying! If he thought that was the strangest thing that would happen, it wasn't. What happened next was even more shocking.

"Your words . . . cut deep boy. Deeper than any knife." Zabuza told him. The shock he was feeling must have shown on his face. "What, are you so surprised to learn that the Demon of the Mist is human?" Asked Zabuza. "Haku . . . he isn't cut out to be a ninja. Even as he fights, his heart breaks. He cares more than anyone else, and damn him, now I care too."

Zabuza turned to face Naruto and his sensei, a fierce gleam in his eyes. "Very well boy, I'll fight with you two. Let's finish this."

Apparently, Gato had had enough waiting. "This is all very touching, but I'm going to have to cut this love fest short. Time is money, and you're wasting mine." He called. To his thugs, he ordered, "Go get'em boys. The one who brings me the bridge builders head gets double. Triple to the one who gives me Zabuza's."

The army of thugs let loose a set of savage roars, and began to charge, parting around their boss as they made their way towards them, and then forming into one solid mass again. Their weapons waved in the air; Axes, spears, scythes. Despite their impressive numbers, Naruto's lip curled in disgust. They had no order or discipline, merely individuals. It was no band of warriors, but a rabble of cavemen, trying to beat them with sticks. More than ever, he knew why Gato chose a country with no shinobi presence to take over. Against even a single team, they'd be slaughtered. And that was exactly what was about to happen. He and Zabuza, both drew their swords, while Kakashi armed himself with a pair of kunai.

"No use waiting for them to come to us," He commented. "Come on, let's get this over with." With that, Kakashi began to charge towards the enemy.

Naruto nodded in agreement with his sensei's command. "You don't have to tell me twice." He muttered as he followed his sensei.

On Kakashi's other side, he could see Zabuza doing the same. His sword was trailing behind him, as he prepared to deliver a massive blow when he met the enemy. Naruto himself sped ahead of the other two using his flash step.

The first thug he killed—a massive brute wielding a kanabo—didn't even know what happened. Naruto coated his sword in wind chakra, and used it to slice cleanly through the man and his club. He felt the disgusting wet warm spray of blood across his face, but pushed it aside. Like a scythe cutting through a field of wheat, Naruto swept through the thugs. With his speed; the thugs never stood a chance. He weaved in and out of the mass of limbs and weapons, cutting down anyone who crossed his path.

Quickly, the surface of the bridge became slick with blood, and clogged with bodies. Everywhere he stepped, it seemed, he was treading on dead bodies and severed limbs. It made it difficult for him to keep up his speed, and he eventually had to activate his Sharingan so that he could see where he was treading better. In the periphery of his vision, he could see Kakashi and Zabuza carving similar paths of death and destruction. Although, unlike him they were taking more damage due to their exhausting fight beforehand; especially Zabuza.

Before Naruto knew it, the last thug had been slain. By then his clothes and hair were soaked in blood. From the feel of it, his skin was two. Anyone who saw him at the time would've thought that he had been in some horrific accident.

Standing a little farther away, Kakashi and Zabuza were both covered in a similar gory red stain.

"Hah . . . hah . . . what now, Gato?" Zabuza growled. His breath came in pants, but it did nothing to detract from his furious eyes glaring daggers through the short Tyrant.

Naruto noticed that Zabuza seemed like he was in pretty bad shape. He was no longer holding his sword, and his arms hung loosely at his sides, with several knives stuck into them and deep gashes in the muscles. That wasn't even mentioning the spears that were stuck deep into his shoulders and upper back. _That doesn't look good. Even if he survives, he'll never be the same._

Gato stood near the end of the bridge, his face stretched wide in horror. He couldn't seem to move.

"Wh-what are you people? St-stay away!" Gato stuttered.

The bloodthirsty grin Zabuza gave the man almost caused Naruto himself to shiver. In the fight, the bandages covering the lower part of his face had come off, allowing them to see his shark-like teeth. The blood trickling from his mouth did nothing to lessen the image.

"Stay away? Now why would I do that?" Zabuza asked. He advanced on Gato menacingly. "I told you I'd kill you, and I plan to deliver."

Gato backpedaled rapidly, a terrified look on his face. Unfortunately for him, he tripped over his own feet, and fell on his rear. That didn't deter him though. He tried to crawl away, whimpering in fear. Finally he couldn't crawl any further. At the edge of the bridge, he was forced to stand up. He was shaking like a leaf, and began to plead with Zabuza. "No, no, please, stay back! I'll pay you double, triple what I said," He offered desperately. Zabuza didn't stop, increasing Gato's desperation. "What is it you want, money, women? I'll give you anything!"

Zabuza just grinned wider. "Money? Come now Gato, the place that men like us go, there's no use for money." He replied. There was a sick gleam in his eyes, and he began to exude killing intent so thick Naruto actually began to see the image of a demon form behind him. "No, when we die, we'll go to Hell. Can you think of a better place for a demon ninja like me? Oh, I'll fit in very nicely. I've heard there are many demons in Hell. You, on the other hand," Zabuza paused, and gave Gato one last, supremely menacing, insane glare. "I'M AFRAID YOU'RE IN FOR A VERY LONG AND PAINFUL ETERNITY!"

Without warning, Zabuza twisted his neck down, and tore one of the knives from his arms. He lunged forward, and began to carve into Gato. Zabuza slashed and slashed. Blood was sent flying through the air. It ended with Zabuza cutting deep into Gato's throat, to the bone, and spinning around his body.

Gato's severed head fell to the ground with a sick— _thump_. There was a permanent look of agony etched onto his face.

Naruto was slightly shocked by how brutal Zabuza had been. As much as he hated to admit it, it scared him a little. All thoughts of fear were driven from his mind, though, when Zabuza suddenly collapsed to his knees. His breathing was ragged.

"Are you alright?" Naruto asked. He cautiously approached Zabuza. As he did, he took a closer look at Zabuza's wounds. With a start, he realized that several of them were in the location of arteries in the arm. None of them were major, but they were arteries, and thus hard to close and fast to bleed.

"Heh . . . heh. Depends on your definition," Zabuza replied. "Seems like I'm dying for real this time. I've been on the edge so many times, it's strange for it to be real this time." Zabuza fixed Naruto with his gaze. "Boy, will you help me? Take me to Haku . . . I want to see him one last time before I die. There are things . . . I need . . . to say." Naruto hesitated for a moment. Truth be told, he was still wary about Zabuza. Still . . . he wasn't one to deny such a request. He looked to Kakashi briefly, silently asking if it was ok.

Kakashi gave him a subtle nod.

"Hehhh, alright." Naruto sighed. He crouched down, and pulled one of Zabuza's ruined arms over his shoulders. To his credit, Zabuza didn't so much as grunt in pain.

Instead of going through the time wasting process of hauling him across the bridge normally, Naruto used his flash step to transport Zabuza to the other side of the bridge, where he had left Haku.

Haku was still there, in the exact same place Naruto had left him. As soon as Haku laid eyes on Zabuza, he began to struggle fiercely. "Master Zabuza!" He cried. His gaze turned to Naruto. "What happened, I heard fighting earlier? Who did this to him?"

Before Naruto could reply to the rapid fire questions, Zabuza let out a wet cough, which unleashed a spray of red mist from his mouth. "Settle down, Haku," He growled. Haku looked at him with wide eyes, but kept silent. "We got in a fight with Gato and his army. He planned to betray us, and we dealt with him." He explained. His next words were directed at Naruto. "Boy, set me down."

Naruto eased Zabuza onto the ground gently. He laid him on his stomach, so as not to agitate any of his wounds with weapons sticking from them. For a moment after he had gotten Zabuza situated, he stood awkwardly

"I'll leave you two alone, so you can talk," Naruto said. He walked away from them, so as to give them privacy. As an afterthought, he released the jutsu he had holding Haku in place, so he could kneel by his master's side.

Briefly, Naruto felt tempted to try and listen in or read their lips. Ultimately, he decided against it. When he thought of how he would have felt if someone had intruded on him when he had been at his Grandfather's side upon his death, he realized he had no right. Instead, he decided to go and check on Sasuki.

She was deathly still. Once could almost believe she _was_ dead. But he knew better. He could still feel her chakra presence. Idly, he used his control over magnetic forces to gently remove the senbon from her body.

He stayed there for quite a while, just thinking about the events of the day. It was just starting to hit him just how many men he'd killed today. Unbidden, a nauseous feeling welled up inside of him, and he had to fight it down. Even if he'd made peace with that aspect of their job, it never weighed on his conscience any less, the burden of taking a life. There was some comfort in the fact that it was such horrible men. And when you considered that they had helped to oppress and terrorize the people of Wave, the world was really better off without them, simply because of the hundreds of lives the men might've taken in the future.

From his place at Sasuki's side, he saw tears begin to pour down Haku's face. Clearly, Zabuza had told him the bad news.

Naruto let out a sigh. _This life as shinobi. It never gets any easier. It seems that it's inevitable that we lose the people we care about._ He looked down at Sasuki, who by this point looked as if she was sleeping peacefully. It hardened his resolve.

 _No matter what, I won't lose you._

 **— ₪** **NTUC ₪ —**

 **AN/ So this ended up being the longest chapter so far. I wanted to end the arc here, but I found that it was just too long already, so there will be one more chapter, that will be considered basically a run-off and lead into the next arc. Next time, we'll see whether Zabuza lives or dies.**

 **Oh, surprise, Naruto knows the Rasengan! Or at least, partially knows. Like his Byakurai, he doesn't have it totally mastered to where it's effortless. Hope I don't get too much backlash for it, but I figured it's reasonable since he has A) A tailed-beast who knows the technique it's based off of. And B) Madara as a teacher, who himself is extremely skilled at chakra control, which the Rasengan is basically a highly advanced form of.**

 **Anyways, there may or may not be a chapter next week, we'll see. It's very likely there won't, and you'll have to wait a couple weeks for the next one. Sorry about that, but there's really no way around it.**

 **Not much else to say.**

 **Next Time: Zabuza's Fate, and Haku's Choice!**

 **So, til next time,**

 **RinneTaicho, Signing off!**


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